The Dream
by Snaily
Summary: Something is wrong...but what is it? Oh yeah! Max doesn't have wings! And neither does the rest of the flock. What happened? Read and Find out! FAXNESS
1. Maximum or Maxine?

Hello! I wrote this as a fan fiction on the Max Ride website I visit a lot (see my profile). Accoridng to my readers, its really good, so I decided to post it here. Some of the chapters are really short (like only a few paragraphs), but I make up for it later with some really long ones. I hope you enjoy it! Read and Review, please!

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or anything. JP does. It'd be cool if I did, though!

Chapter 1: Maximum or Maxine?

It was such a good dream…I wanted to keep it, hold onto it forever…

It started in bed…well, duh. I woke up, but instead of feeling hard cement and rough dirt under my back, I felt softness, and warmth. I sat up, and a knit blanket fell off of me. Groggily, I looked around, trying to adjust to my surroundings.

_What is this?_

I was in a room, but it wasn't a dog cage or an isolation tank. It was painted a friendly blue. _Too friendly… _I thought. Was this some kind of disguised torture chamber? I had certainly never been there in my life.

I got off the bed, instantly wary and alert. I was aware of soft carpet under my feet and sunlight streaming through the window. I heard a knock on the door. I jumped and assumed a fighting position.

A woman poked her head in the door. "Oh, good, you're up," she said, smiling. She eyed my pose, and then shrugged. "Pancakes in ten."

Pancakes?

I slipped on the house shoes that were touching me toes, and then followed the woman. We walked down a narrow hallway (which, on a side-note, had flowery wallpaper and several pictures hanging on it. I took a quick glance at the pictures, but didn't really comprehend what was on them.) We walked down stairs, which were also carpeted, and entered another hallway. This one was about three times as wide as the other one. At the end of the hall it opened up a bit to what looked like a dining room.

A pretty table sat in the center of the large room. A small chandelier lit up the room with morning cheerfulness…where the heck did I get that word?

A boy a couple years younger than me came up from my right side and punched me playfully. I would have punched him back, but, aware that I was stronger than anyone twice his size, I held back. I didn't even react. I just sat down at the empty seat at the table. Because I'm pretty that's what they all expected me to do.

"What you're not gonna call me 'dweeb' or anything?" he asked.

"Why would I do that?" I asked, clueless. The boy gave me weird look and started wolfing down his pancakes.

"Now, Jake, your sister just rolled out of bed two minutes ago! Give her a break," said the woman.

"Mom, how could you ask me to do such a thing?" he asked in  
fake astonishment.

Sister? Mom? What the heck is going on here?

"Ha, ha. So, Max, how did you sleep last night?" 'Mom' asked.

"Uh, good," I said quietly. "May I be excused?"

"Sure honey. You've only eaten two pancakes, are you sure you're full?"

Considering this woman's pancakes were twice the size of any I'd ever eaten, I was definitely full.

"Yeah, I'm good, thanks," I said. I pushed my chair back from the table, and I rushed upstairs to my room. One thing I had noticed when I woke up was a huge ceiling-to-floor mirror. I looked in it. I whipped around; I was only wearing a pajama tank top. I tried to unfold my wings, but nothing happened. I nearly hyperventilated. I moved my arms all around my back. There were no openings for my wings, _no wings! _


	2. A Little Explanation Please?

Chapter 2! This is one of the sorter ones, though not the shortest. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: A Little Explanation Please?

I decided right then and there that I would work things out by acting as normally as possible. I had already guessed that the people that were with me were not going to harm me in any way.

I went to dresser in the corner of my room and pulled out jeans and a t-shirt. I slipped a sweater over it. There was another knock on the door.

"Hey, Maxi, how are you feeling?" Mom asked. "You seemed a little off earlier."

"I was," I admitted. "I kind of blanked out. I can hardly remember anything. Why don't you fill me in so I'm absolutely certain I'm living the right life?" I added a laugh so that it seemed like I was casual.

"OK…You live in Virginia. Your name is Maxine Ride. I'm Lola Ride, your dad is John Ride, and you have a brother, Jake Ride. You have always lived here. You go to high school. Any more questions?" my mom looked like she was about to burst out laughing.

"No, Mom! I just realized what was wrong. I had a really weird dream last night. I had been genetically recombined at birth along with five other kids and we had wings. We escaped from the mad scientists who did it to us, but we were constantly being chased by their wolf-human mutants called Erasers. Then the scientists started telling me that I was supposed to save the world, but all I was concerned about was finding all of our parents!"

"Oh, what nonsense!" my mom laughed. "Well, I'm glad you're dressed, because now that I know that you're not ill, you're going to school, young lady!"

I chuckled. Figuring things out would have to wait until later. And because I was dressed casually, I knew that we weren't going to a Pruitt-based school.


	3. School, and Something More

Chapter 3: School...and Something More

I was walking down to the bus stop half an hour later. There weren't many kids on the sidewalk; my house was kind of at the edge of town. Suddenly, I saw someone walking down the street opposite the direction I was going. He seemed to be coming toward me. My vision wasn't nearly as good because all my avian abilities were gone. But shortly I was able to tell that it was someone familiar. I was about ten feet from him when I finally realized who he was.

"Fang!" I cried. I couldn't resist, I ran up and hugged him. I pulled away quickly. "Please tell me you're just as freaked out by this as I am!"

He looked at me, his face betraying no emotion. That seemed right to me. Without warning he grasped my wrist and pulled me into a nearby bush. 

"Hey!" I said.

"Shh," he said, pressing a finger to my lips. "You're right, this is too weird."

Then I froze, This was supposed to be a dream! I was supposed to be able to wake up! I blinked once, twice, three times, trying to snap myself out of it.

"You're not going to be able to wake up," Fang said. "I've already tried. Several times."


	4. Maybe this Dream Isn't So Good

This one's a little longer. R+R!

I don't own Max Ride, I swear.

Chapter 4: Maybe This Dream Isn't So Good…

"What do you mean?" I asked. This didn't make any sense.

"I know I'm dreaming, too, but I can't wake up no matter how hard I've tried pr what I've done."

I suddenly became suspicious. "What have you done?"

Fang sighed and reluctantly pulled up his sleeve. I gasped. "You've burned yourself?"

"I was desperate!" he retorted. "I hadn't figured out what happened yet."

"Wait a sec, does that mean you know?"

"I have a pretty good idea," Fang explained.

"Well, spill the beans!" I begged. Fang still hadn't let go of my wrist; I wasn't quite sure why. But it became apparent shortly thereafter. He pulled me out of the bush again, not respecting the pain it inflicted upon my now-human self.

"I can't," he said, letting go of my wrist and beginning to walk again. Trying to keep up with him, I questioned him.

"Why not?"

"Can't risk being overheard. I'll meet your at your place tonight and we can figure out together, in the guise of a study group. OK?"

"Fine," I huffed. I gave him space. I wasn't sure whether Maxine Ride knew Fang in this dream or not, so I wasn't sure if we should or shouldn't be seen together.

Meanwhile, I tried to figure out what had happened.

OK, I know I was dreaming, meaning at some I had actually fallen asleep. Now, juts to remember when…

I remember!

A few days after we had escaped from Itex, Fang and I decided to take the flock and lie low. At least, as low as we could, considering I had a tracking device in my arm. Big help.

Of course, it wasn't long before the Erasers found us again. This time, though, there were many more than we had ever fought at one time. It wasn't long before we were overtaken, bound, and thrown in the back of a truck. I started banging on the sides of the truck with my head in desperation. Maybe someone on the highway would notice? Fat chance.

A few minutes later, I felt a hand on my back. I looked, and Fang gave me a sympathetic look. Basically, he was telling me to give up. I had half a mind to ignore him, but I knew he was right.

We soon arrived at Itex headquarters. Great. Several Erasers blocked the door, so none of us could escape if we tried. One Eraser came in, with an uncomfortably large pair of scissors. Five Erasers came in and grabbed the rest of the flock and held them. I was left with the Eraser with the scissors.

Eight minutes of pain later, the Eraser had successfully clipped my wings. He didn't escape without a few bruises himself, though. He didn't cut them off; he just clipped the right feathers in the right places, so I couldn't fly away if I tried.

The Eraser who clipped Fang's wings wound up with a few more aches and pains than mine had. The rest of the flock struggled also, but they clipped all of our wings. What I found odd was that I didn't see them clip Iggy's wings. Maybe they thought he'd be easier because he was blind. AS for the rest of us, we were clipped and we were helpless. WE were bound with no wings: What good was that?

We ere thrown in dog crates instantly. I didn't know what to do; I had nearly given up hope.

A few hours, we still had no idea what was going on; but we were given food. I was disgusted. I wouldn't eat anything that they gave me. Why should I? The younger ones, though, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel, had eaten and were already fast asleep.

Eventually, hunger took over. I ate, but reluctantly. Fang seemed to be the only one who was resisting longer than I was. Soon, I fell asleep.


	5. Finding the Flock

Hope you're liking it so far! This one's a little shorter.

Disclaimer: No one (except JP) owns Max Ride, and I'm sure she'd quickly agree!

Chapter 5: Finding the Flock

Now that I figured out why I was asleep, I had to wait until Fang told me what he knew.

"Hey Max!" A girl called to me as soon as I got on the bus. I was startled.

"Hey," I said. I didn't know who this girl was, but I guessed she was a friend.

"Aren't you going to say, 'Hi, Kate, sorry I forgot to tell you yesterday, I had better things to do'?" She grinned and motioned for me to sit next to her.

"Don't worry, I forgive you," Kate said. I smiled back, hoping I didn't look too weirded out. I socialized, but I couldn't help looking over my shoulder. I had to see if I could see anyone familiar. I saw Fang in the back of the bus; but I couldn't see anyone else. I had no idea where the rest of my flock was.

School followed. It went well, but not without a few people asking whether I was ill or not. Eventually I gave in, said I was, and was excuse to go home.

A few hours later, Fang knocked on the door. After my insistence, Mom let him in.

"You are feeling okay?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah. But too many people though I wasn't," I said, shrugging.

"Apparently you adjusted a lot better than I did."

"I guess. Let's get to business."

I instantly sat up in bed.

"You do remember what happened before this dream?" Fang said.

"Yeah. But before we figure out what's happening, I want to find out what happened to the rest of the flock."

"Okay," Fang agreed.

"Oh, I don't know what your real name is here," I remembered,

"Zac Fredericks," he answered curtly.

I nodded, and then pulled out the laptop I found in my room. I logged on to Google. "Iggy first," I said. I typed in the name James Griffiths. I was greeted with a huge guide.

I clicked on the first website.

AMAZING FLYING KID MAKES APPEARANCE IN NATION'S CAPITAL!

I gasped. I looked at Fang, uh, Zac, who was biting his lip slightly. I couldn't look anymore; I went back to the Google home site. I entered the name Monique Brown: That was the name we had gathered from Nudge's papers.

We gathered that she lived in Arizona with her single mother. She had a MySpace, so that's how we found her. The picture provided looked exactly like Nudge. I was relieved that at least she was happy.

I looked at Fang to figure out what he knew about Gazzy and Angel.

"They go to the Elementary School in town. I think their names are Gen and Ricky."

"At least we know they're not hurt." Fang nodded.

"So, what do you know?" I continued.


	6. Trapped!

Ok, this is the last really short chapter! There's one more that's below 500 words, but after that, they start getting much longer. I promise. Thanks to those who reviewed!

I don't own Maximum Ride. She'd beat me up if I tried.

Chapter 6: Trapped!

"If you remember the same thing I do," Fang began, "You know that we ate food and we fell asleep. Well, I didn't eat my food until after you were all asleep. I saw that they drugged you all, except Iggy, after you went under. They must have done the same thing to me."

I nodded. "That makes sense."

"Well, I think our status on the outside is affecting our dream here. For example, the fact that our wings are clipped is represented in the dream by the fact that we have no wings. The drugs explain the lack of power. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Yes! It makes perfect sense, too! But what about Iggy? He seems to be as he was in real life!" I answered.

"That was because he was neither clipped nor drugged. I don't know why they left him out; it doesn't make any sense," Fang explained.

"You're right, it doesn't. But we can only figure out so much at once. I think right now, we should figure out our identities in the dream. That way I won't have to pretend to be sick every day until this problem is solved."

"Good idea," Fang admitted. "We should keep our eyes open at school. Pick up clues from everyone else."

I nodded. With that, he left. He started to head toward the window.

"Fang!" I called. He looked at me. "No wings."

"Oh, right," he said, blinking.

After he left, the human way, I lay back in bed and mulled over what I had just learned.


	7. Observations

Chapter 7: Observations

The next day, I told my mom that I felt better. She let me go to school reluctantly. I did what Fang and I had planned.

Kate met me on the school bus again. I observed everyone around us. I was on the outside seat, and I looked back down the aisle. I caught Fang's eye and gave him a thumb's up. I turned back to Kate and started talking about random stuff.

I found out that Maxine Ride has decent grades. She is not "cool" but she is not "weird" either. She has her best friend Kate and used to take Taekwondo lessons. She got her black belt when she was twelve.

I also gathered information on Zac Fredericks. He is in the center, like Maxine, and he has good grades. He has been friends with Maxine since they were small kids. They hang out in separate groups.

Then something came that helped the search tremendously. The year book came out that day. I bought one as soon as I could get my hands on it. But I promised myself that I wouldn't look at it until Fang came over.

When Fang finally did come over, he could hardly get a word out before I shoved the yearbook in his face.

"This should answer some things."

He nodded. "And so should this. I got a yearbook from the elementary school, too."

"You're genius!" I exclaimed.

I flipped through the elementary book as fast as I could. I found Angel instantly. Her huge eyes and blond curls could bee seen from a mile away. She looked happy in her class. I felt happy just looking at her picture.

"There's Gazzy!" I said out loud. And there he was. Unfortunately, he didn't look quite as happy as his kid sister was. I bet they teased him for his tendencies. But at least he was safe. Oh, I wanted to cuddle them so badly!

"OK, it's my turn to look at that one," I said to Fang. He blinked, and I wondered what the heck he had seen.

"Uh, no, there's nothing in this one," he said, trying to pack it into his backpack.

"I don't think so!" I cried, snatching it from him. Maybe he was embarrassed y his picture or something.

I flipped a few pages, and saw my picture, which was dorky. I saw his, which was actually very good.

Then I went to the student poll section. I read through Most Photographed, Most involved, and then I got to Year's Cutest Couple.

Zac Fredericks and Maxine Ride.


	8. Things Are Getting Weirder

Chapter 8: Things Are Getting Weirder...

"Fang?" I said shakily. "Did you see this?"

"Yes," he said, still not betraying any emotion. That was starting to drive me nuts.

"What do you think?" I asked, testing him.

"I think that this is a dream," he said. I almost sighed; I had been testing him, and he had failed.

We sat in silence for a while, but then I got the courage to ask him his theory.

"I think," he said, "that the whitecoats are trying to simulate what out lives would be like if they hadn't taken us. Maybe it's another test, to see how we will react; otherwise, they are attempting to keep us here and replace us with bigger, better models."

"I think you're right. I mean, they've already made another Max; maybe they've been working on other flock members, too. Unfortunately I don't think their simulations are quite accurate," I replied. After that last part I nearly bit my tongue, wishing I could take it back.

Fang looked at me for a minute. In that minute it felt as though I were under an X-ray. It was unnerving. "Maybe you're right," he said. Then he looked away.

"Another theory of mine," Fang continued, "is that their simulations are based on what we most want and what we most dread. For example, Iggy's greatest fear was that he would have parents that wouldn't treat him the way they ought. In his dream he is a sideshow attraction on the move. It's his worst nightmare. on the other hand, I've read in recent articles and dug up that he is not blind. He can see as well as you or I."

"And Nudge," I said, picking up on what he was saying, "she has a mom and someone who loves her; but she lives all the way across the country from the rest of us. Her greatest dread."

"Exactly. And there are things with the rest of us, too."

WE stopped for a moment and looked at each other. "What about us?" I dared to ask.

"Your greatest fear is feeling weaker than you were before, am I right?" Fang asked, peering at me.

I thought for a moment. "It does feel strange. I feel vulnerable. That is the worst feeling in the world."

"And as for me, I have to deal with the fact that my mom can hardly take care of me. I'm on my own most of the time, because she works two jobs. I hate having a mom who can do nothing for me."

"I'm sorry." That's all I could say.

"It's alright." Fang said. I moved up next to him on the bed, flipping through the year book one last time.

"And as for our greatest wish?" I said quietly. The pages in the book stopped flipping. They landed on the picture of Cutest Couple. We looked at each other, and I think we both knew...

**DO I FEEL SOME FAXNESS COMING ON?**

...that our greatest wish was one another.

"Max?" Fang said.

I didn't know quite how to react. WE were still looking at each other. I looked into his dark eyes, and he into my light ones. The next thing I knew, our lips touched, and It was the best feeling in the world. This time, we weren't pretending.


	9. The Truth is Revealed

Chapter 9: The Truth is Revealed   
Our kiss didn't last long, but we enjoyed it all the same. It really let the truth out, and I knew it made me feel better.

We kind of just sat there for a minute, not sure what to say.

"So, what next?" I asked.

"We need to get the flock back together. Then we can figure out how to get out of this dream," Fang replied.

"Well, we know Angel and Gasman are okay. We can get to them when we want to. Iggy is coming into the capital next week, and he'll stay here for a month. So we can get to him then. But Nudge, she's all the way out in Arizona. Do we get to her first?"

Fang thought for a moment. "Winter break," he said after a pause. "I can convince your mom that you're coming with me and my mom on a trip to Arizona. Our moms don't talk much anyway; they'll never know the difference."

I raised my eyebrows. "You're a genius," I said, shrugging. Then I laughed. He grinned. 

"How long do they have to sleep?" Ari asked impatiently. He was bored. The flock was no fun when they just laid on the plain white tables in the plain white room. He liked fighting them.

"We've been over this," Jeb said. "They have to sleep until they realize they were wrong. They will witness Itex taking over the world, and then they will regret it. Maybe then we can recycle them and wake them up again."

"That is where your wrong, Mr. Batchelder." The director, that is, Anne, walked into the room. She was garbed in a long white coat like everyone else, but on the back of hers, DIRECTOR was printed in big black letters.

_Not very subtle,_ Ari thought.

"They can never wake up," Anne continued, "Because they have failed their test. They are useless to us now."

"Good," said Max II, following Anne into the room. She was flanked by five other people. "I don't want them to wake up. They bug me." Max II was still beat up from the collapse at Itex. She had a huge black eye and a scratch on the opposite cheek. Her right arm had a long gash. The collapse had affected her appearance, but not her ability.

"I look weird," Iggy II said in a disdainful voice. "Do I really look like that?" he asked Max II. Unlike version 1, the attempt to enhance Iggy II's night vision was a success.

"Shut up, Iggy," Max II snapped. "Don't be so self absorbed. It ruins everyone's day."

"Cut it out," said Nudge II, who didn't talk nearly as much as the first one did.

Fang II rolled his eyes. He didn't speak at all, unlike his predecessor. Ari thought this was an improvement.

Just then, the Gasman II let out an unfortunate occurrence.

"Ugh, Gasman!" Iggy II moaned. "Why do you have to do that around everyone? It really kills the mood!"

"Sor-ry," Gasman II sneered.

Ari scowled. The original Flock had something that this one didn't have. Teamwork. Ari seriously doubted this version's success at this rate. Anne, Jeb, and the Flock II left the room, Ari following. As they left the room, Ari tapped Angel II's shoulder. She turned to face him.

"What do you get from them?" he asked her, motioning towards her fellow flock members.

"They really annoy each other. I'm annoyed too. Oh, and they really don't like each other much." With that she turned and walked away. Ari turned off the lights, leaving the original flock in pitch blackness. 


	10. On the Road to Arizona

Chapter 10: On the Road to Arizona.

"It worked!" I cried. "I can't believe it worked!" Fang had successfully convinced my mom to let me go with him to Arizona.

"So we sneak on the train, head to Arizona and find Nudge," Fang confirmed.

I nodded. That shouldn't be too hard, because we were masters at sneaking.

Turned out we would be able to leave the next day, because Fang had also convinced my mom that he was leaving from school early. That was a little hard to persuade my mom into, but she accepted in the end. 

The next day came quickly. Fang packed a backpack of food and clothes. "The rest of our luggage is in our car," Fang explained to my mom when she dropped me off. Of course, it wasn't. We would be walking to the train station. Luckily, the metro wasn't too far from where we lived, and we would take that to the major train station. Fang and I combined our pocket money for metro tickets, and we were on our way in no time.

Once we arrived at the train station, we molded into the crowd that led to the D.C/St. Louis train. We would have to get on another train to make it all the way to Arizona, and we managed to slip through by hopping on the luggage car. We wouldn't have been able to make it onto the actual train without a ticket: security was too tight. But it might be safe to move into the other cars at night. If necessary, we would be able to sneak into the kitchens at night to grab extra food.

The time from D.C. to St. Louis didn't take long to us. We hopped off as quickly as we could and hung around the train station until the train to Arizona was ready to leave. We slipped on just as the luggage car door shut.

"Do you think we'll find her?" I asked Fang after about a half an hour.

"Yes. We know her address."

"I know that. But will we find Nudge, or will we find Monique? Will she even want to see us? Will she even WANT to wake up?"

Fang looked at me. "Don't think that way. It's Nudge! She'll be happy to see us."

But I heard a barely detectable sense of doubt in his voice.

It was mostly quiet until night. We decided to go to sleep early, about five, so that we would be undetectable. We wanted to have enough energy for the next day, anyway. We found an open corner in the car and sat side by side.

"G'night, Fang," I murmured.

"Goodnight," he whispered. Then he kissed me on the forehead. I sighed and soon fell asleep.

A sudden lurch woke me. I jumped. I realized that my head had been leaning on Fang's shoulder, and when I jumped, he woke also. 

"We're here," I whispered. We jumped off the train as soon as it came to a complete stop. We rushed out of the Phoenix train station and out into the city. The sunlight nearly blinded us; we had been in the dark baggage car for three days. We walked due west. Our goal was Glendale.

We reached Glendale at midnight. We found a tree and climbed up with unusual difficulty. That was where we slept, and the next day we observed our surroundings. We walked a ways through Glendale, and very shortly we came across a house with no cars in the parking lot and an open garage. Fang crept up and looked in the window; there was no one home. We took a look around the garage.

My eyes fell upon an ATV. I glanced at Fang. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Fang nodded, and he ran his fingers along a high shelf. I heard a clinking sound and knew he had found the keys. We took the helmets, because we couldn't afford to die in this dream. A few minutes later, we had boarded the ATV. Fang was driving, and I sat in back, my arms wrapped around his waist for support. We took off. Next stop, Tipisco.


	11. Ari's Wrath

Chapter 11: Ari's Wrath.

It was night, and Ari made his way to the cell. He couldn't stand being around the Flock II, with all their bickering and arguing.

It was at least quieter in the cell. He observed the sleeping flock members, and he noticed that Max lay on a table in the far corner. Next to her lay that Fang guy. Ari hated him. Another table down was the black girl, Nudge. On the table nearest him was the eight year old boy, Gasman. The blind boy Iggy laid next to him, in front of Fang, and the smallest, Angel, lay on the table in front of Max. They looked so weird lying on the plain white tables.

Ari looked around the room. The floor was white carpet without a stain on it. The walls were white and so was the ceiling; and even the lights gave off a white glow. The whole effect altogether made the flock look like they were levitating.

Ari walked to the far table and looked at Max. He wished she didn't have to sleep. If she didn't, he would take her and make her be his friend. That is, if Fang didn't get in the way, which he probably would. Ari wished he had just finished him off earlier. He turned to Fang's table, and sudden fury rose in his chest. He reeled back his fist and punched the sleeping Fang in the jaw. 

Suddenly, Fang lurched forward. I leaned with him; I would fly off the ATV if I let go. He started coughing and sputtering, and the ATV started swerving. He stopped coughing only long enough to park and stop the ATV. He stumbled off the ATV and land in an empty ditch near a field. He fell over onto his knees and hacked up a bit of blood. What was going on?

"Fang!" I shouted. "What's happening to you?"

His head jerked to the side as though someone had clobbered him there. And soon he started choking. I had no idea what was going on and I didn't know how to help. Fang looked like he was dying! 

Ari had his hands wrapped firmly around Fang's neck. Though still in deep sleep, Fang coughed and sputtered a bit, although he could do nothing to move and stop Ari. Ari cackled.

Then Ari felt something on the side of his head. Someone had punched him! He released his grip on Fang's throat and stumbled backward. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Jeb growled. "You don't realize what you're doing!"

"Yes, I do," Ari growled back.

"You need to stop it!" Jeb demanded. "You can't do that! We may still need him. And Max needs him. If you hurt any one of these people, Max will hunt you down and kill you, and I won't be able to save you. Nothing is fiercer than a hurt Max. She is designed that way, to care, no matter how I've tried to stop it."

Ari let out a low growl in his throat. 

Suddenly, Fang stopped choking and he rolled over. He was breathing deeply, and a trickle of blood was coming out the side of his mouth.

He sputtered a bit, and then opened his eyes.

"Fang!" I shouted. I hugged him, and he stiffened and winced. I instantly let go.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Ari happened."

"Ari? How is that possible?" I asked.

"Whatever happens on the outside happens in here, too." He groaned and sat up. I kneeled next to him.

He looked at me gravely. "I think he was trying to kill me, Max." 

I gasped. "Kill you? Why would he want to do that?"

Fang gave me one of his I-know-you-know looks. And I did. Ari wanted me, and Fang was in his way. Ari wanted to get Fang out of his way. And Fang was no more vulnerable than he was now.


	12. Why Must All Friends Leave Us?

Chapter 12: Why must all friends leave us?

It'd taken us a few hours to get to the Arizona border. Unfortunately, due to my poor map reading, we wound up too far north. And It happened to be pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

"So, what do you we do now, map genius?" Fang said, clearly annoyed.

I observed our surroundings. Somehow, this place seemed familiar. I racked my brain, trying to remember where I recognized it from. It came to me before long.

"Go this way," I said, pointing to my right. We circled around a patch of thick brush that would be impossible to go through with the ATV. And, as I had suspected, Dr. Martinez's house greeted us when we reached the other side.

"We can stay here overnight," I assured Fang. "I know her, she's my friend."

Fang shrugged. He parked the ATV near a group of trees. "Wait here," I said, and he nodded.

I took off my helmet and went up to Dr. Martinez's house. I knocked on the door. The door opened slowly, and sure enough, my only human friend opened the door.

"Yes?" said Dr. Martinez. She looked a little different, a little more worn. But it was definitely her. I had expected her to recognize me at least a little, but I guess I had changed. I shrugged it off and continued.

"Hi, Dr. Martinez! Is Ella here?" I asked, grinning.

"No...Ella, well, she...she isn't here anymore."

"Why? Where is she?" I asked, slightly confused. I was also beginning to get suspicious.

"Ella died a few months ago," Dr. Martinez said briskly. "She was shot. Who are you again?"

I gasped. "I...I'm sorry, I didn't know!" And with that, I turned on my heel and ran back toward Fang. Before he opened his mouth I slammed my helmet onto my head so that he couldn't see my tears. It didn't work.

"Max? What's wrong?" he asked. I shook my head and climbed onto the ATV. Fang was still looking at me odd but he got on the ATV and started it anyway. WE drove for about ten minutes before he stopped it again.

He climbed off and stood stubbornly beside it. "We're not going anywhere until you tell me what happened." Evidently, he had heard me crying behind my helmet while we'd been driving. How, I don't know.

I unstrapped my helmet and turned to face him, my face sticky from my tears. "Ella is dead. Ella is dead because I wasn't there to help her. She and her mom were the only humans who ever helped me! And Doctor Martinez didn't even recognize me!"

Fang's face softened and he sat next to me. "Max, you've got to remember, this is all a bad dream. None of it's real!"

"But it will become real if we can never wake up!" I cried. "What if we can't, Fang, no matter how hard we try?"

"Max, what's going on with you? Stop thinking that way. It's so unlike you, and it's worrying me."

I looked at him through strained eyes. "Everything I was ever sure about is falling apart. I don't know how I should think anymore."

"I know." Fang wrapped an arm around me. I leaned against his strong shoulder and attempted a recovery. After a few minutes, he used his other arm and lifted my chin. Then he kissed me, right on my lips, and for some reason that made me feel better instantly. I smiled, signaling to him that I was alright to continue on, and we revved up the ATV and started south.

Okay, you guys are probably about ready to throttle me right now. Right? Well, that's okay, cause there's plenty of excitement to come. ;)

Oh, and I forgot to mention for the last two chapters that I don't own Max. Oops. :)


	13. Tipisco

Don't own Max.

This chapter's MUCH longer, like, twice as long. enjoy!

Chapter 13: Tipisco

It wasn't long before Fang and I found a place to sleep for the night. I was in a patch of woods about a half hour drive from where Ella's mom lived. Fang went to gather fire wood, and as soon as he got back I made a fire. We made a pretty good team. WE unpacked a bag of popcorn from our backpacks and popped it over the fire, which took much longer than those Jiffy Pop bags.

As soon as they were finished, we ate in silence. I wasn't exactly sure what to talk about. I knew I had to talk about _something_; this silence was bugging me.

"How are you?" I asked finally. Fang looked at me, his eyebrows raised. Hey, I tried.

I repeated my defense out loud, and he grinned. "I'm fine." He paused. "What about you?"

"I'm better now," I said, truthfully. "Some dream, huh?"

Fang nodded. "We need to get out of here," he said after a moment. "I can't stand virtual reality."

I smiled. "Me neither. I will never play a video game again." No that I ever have. But so what." I took my last handful of popcorn and set my bag down next to me. A bright orange logo caught my eye. I seized the bag again and looked more closely.

Itex.

Ari sat on a tree in the yard outside the School. His back was propped up against the trunk and one leg hung down over the side of the branch. He was clenching and unclenching his fists angrily. He never got to do anything! His dad always stopped him. He snarled in the back of his throat.

He sat quietly for a while, his eyes closed, and his thoughts taking over. He was never going to kill Fang and take Max if they were in that stupid room. It wasn't like they were going to wake up, so it should be fairly easy to take them. But his plan would need more thought. But no doubt in his mind, Ari would get what he wanted, whether Jeb liked it or not.

Fang and I saw the 3 mile sign to Tipisco at about 4:00 in the afternoon the next day. Not much later they reached the town and the trailer park. Fang parked the ATV at the edge of town. WE walked down the road casually. We didn't feel as conspicuous because we didn't have wings.

Fang paused for a minute and I watched his face. I could tell he was searching his mind for the address that he had seen when he and Nudge had been here before.

"Ready?" I asked shortly. Fang nodded. WE walked down the street, Fang looking for the address.

"Here." Fang pointed to a trailer with one or two trees in the yard. At second glance we noticed a young girl in jeans and a tee shirt. She was wearing a pink bandana and was sweeping the walkway to the door.

I walked up to the girl. "Hello, we're looking for Monique?"

The girl looked up at me and her eyes teared up. Without warning she leaped up into my arms ands sobbed. "Max! Max! What took you so long, what's going on? Where are my wings? Where is everyone else?" she cried in a choked voice.

"Monique, what'cha doin?" shouted a loud, masculine voice from the door. It was a broad woman with hair curlers and a Coke in one hand. I saw Fang tighten his jaw, as if he recognized something. "Get'cha chores done, you not free of punishment yet!"

I released the girl who was obviously Nudge. "Sorry, Mama! I'll be done in a minute!"

"Who's that 'choo talkin' to?" said the woman, peering out the door. "We're not buyin' any!"

"Ma'am, we're friends of Monique's!" I called. "I'm Maxine Ride, and this is Zac Fredericks."

"Monique can't see any friends! She's grounded until this evening!"

I looked at Nudge apologetically. We couldn't risk upsetting her mother, even though it didn't appear that would be hard. "We'll come back later, then, ma'am."

Fang and I hung around the outskirts of the trailer park while we waited until 8:00, the time Nudge said she was free of punishment.

"Fang, there's something I forgot to tell you," I said.

"What?" he asked, squinting.

"When I looked at the popcorn bag, I saw Itex printed on it. I think they're still trying to take over the world, even here."

Fang's eyes softened. "And I never told you that I saw an Itex tag on the inside of my backpack!"

I couldn't help it, I giggled. Then I was silent for a minute. "I think the whitecoats are trying to punish us."

Fang nodded. "It does seem that way." He looked at me. "You had to be so dang stubborn, didn't you?"

We both laughed at that.

Time passed and soon we were allowed to see Nudge.

"Hey guys," she said. "Sorry about my mom. She's kinda strict."

Fang grimaced.

"What were you being punished for?" I asked.

"Claiming that I once had wings and was stolen from them as a baby."

"Ah hah."

"What happened to you?" she asked. "Were you punished? How did you get here? I hope you weren't punished..."

"Nudge, my mom just thought I was ill. We said we were going on vacation. We stowed away on a train and stole an ATV to get here."

"Wow. But I have more questions. Why don't we have wings, and why am I even here?"

Fang answered that one. "The whitecoats trapped us in this dream. They clipped our wings, so we don't have them in this dream. Max and I are trying to get us all together so we can figure out how to get out."

"Oh." Nudge's comment was unusually short.

"Okay, we need to get you back to D.C.," I said. Then I froze. "Fang," I said, turning to him, "It was one thing using the ATV to get here when there was just you and me. But how are we supposed to get back to Phoenix with Nudge in tow?"

Fang thought for a moment, but before he could say anything, Nudge started laughing.

"What?" I snapped, a little too harshly.

"It turns out," Nudge began, "That Monique has been saving her pennies. She has about $300 dollars in change and $100 in cash."

I gaped at her. That would be enough for bus and train tickets! "Nudge, you're brilliant!"


	14. On the Road, Again!

Alright, this one's not as logn as the last one, but it is longer than 500 words. Thanks to those who have reviewed so far!

Disclaimer: Max is not mine...blah blah blah!

Chapter 14: On the Road...Again

That night, Fang, using his stealth mode (which is even more stealthy than his original mode, if that's possible), crept up to Nudge's small bedroom window. She was already set to go, with a small sack of things she needed. Fang helped her out of the window and met me at the end of the street. We walked to the nearest bus station, which was in a city by Lake Mead. We left the ATV as a gift to Nudge's mom.

We reached the bus station at about midnight; luckily it was still open. And, with another lucky stroke (what was WITH this dream?), there was a bus heading to Phoenix in thirty minutes. We boarded and kind of just sat there. Nudge eventually fell asleep with her head in my lap, her body sprawled across the next seat over. Fang sat in the nearest seat in the next aisle over. He kind of grinned when he looked and saw Nudge.

"She's out like a light," I whispered. He nodded.

"You should get some sleep, too," he said, just as quietly. I hesitated, and it was obvious.

"Max, remember; we're in a dream. It's not as if Erasers are going to come and attack us on the midnight bus. Seriously, get some sleep."

I gave him a half smile. He was right. Then Fang leaned over and pushed my hair away from my forehead, planting a small kiss there before leaning back across the aisle.

"Jeb, I don't see why you're doing this," said another whitecoat in the lab.

"I'm doing it because the Director wants it to be done," Jeb said bitterly. He turned to the other whitecoat, a woman, and his eyes softened.

"I know I hate it, and I know you hate it. You love Max, as you should. She's your daughter."

Jeb nodded, scowling.

"But I don't see why you have to treat Ari the way you do."

"Treat him in what way?" Jeb said defensively.

"Don't you see? He wants attention. He wants to make you proud. But you ignore him. You didn't even seem satisfied when the whitecoats were able to revive him."

"Ari is not the one who's supposed to save the world," Jeb retorted.

"No, but he's still your son. Besides, Max isn't going to save the world any more, either," the woman said.

"Max has been replaced," Jeb said defiantly. "And it's your fault!"

The woman frowned. "I tried my best, tried to guide her in her head. But she seemed to be annoyed by me, her little Voice. But I suppose that's expected, she is a teenager. I've read about that sort of rebellion."

Jeb laughed at that. "It seems to be that way, but even stronger in her, probably because of the genetic engineering. But you have been quite the mother figure - er, voice."

The woman raised her eyebrows. "That's my job. But, I will tell you right now, I was never fond of having to genetically alter BOTH of my children."

Jeb looked at his wife again. "I'm sorry. I wasn't either. But it had to be done."

We reached Phoenix in no time. I had to rouse Fang, who apparently had forgotten his own advice about danger and had stayed up much longer. We exited the bus, and because the next train to St. Louis was at 2:00 that afternoon, we found a park where we could sleep some more until we could get on the train.

We grabbed some food before we boarded the train, which satisfied even Nudge's stomach. It was only hours before we reached St. Louis, and we had just enough money left to get tickets to D.C. We were home before we knew it. And both Fang and I agreed; riding the train was definitely better than the luggage car.


	15. The Amazing Flying Kid!

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! I just wrote a new chapter today (this isn't it, I wrote this months ago). I REALLY REALLY like it, and I hope you'll liek it too, when we get there. It's chapter 27, by the way!

Discalimer: You know the drill!

Chapter 15: The Amazing Flying Kid!

"Hey, Mom!" I called when I walked in the door. I had called her ahead of time and let her know that we had come home. Fang reluctantly went home as well, taking Nudge with him. Fang had a heavy patch of forest behind his home and Nudge was staying there.

"Hey, sweetie, how was Arizona?"

_Let's see, we stowed away on a train, stole an ATV, were attacked by outer forces, and brought back a girl who I really do but really don't know._

"Fine."

"That's good, you should go get some rest. Oh, and don't forget, we're going to see James, the Flying Kid, tomorrow. You still want to go, don't you?"

"Yep," I said, nonchalantly. But I really wanted to scream, Heck yeah! But I just wandered carelessly up to my room and plopped down on my bed. I was exhausted, and I couldn't help it. I fell asleep.

* * *

Ari knew what he had to do. In three days, he would bind Fang and Ma and take them away. It seemed simple enough. Their wings were clipped, so they couldn't fly away. And they were asleep, so they couldn't fight. It seemed picture perfect. But he needed to give it time; to make sure things didn't change.

"ARGHH!"

Max II fell flat on her face after being hit by an Eraser at five feet in the air.

"Watch it!" she hissed, standing up. The Eraser landed near her, chuckling slightly.

"Max! You've failed again!" Jeb said angrily. "You're not supposed to come out of simulation. It throws off training. You're not going to have to fight an Eraser in real life, but if you did, he'd have torn your throat out by now."

Jeb glanced at the Eraser. It nodded and grinned, his horrible fangs showing.

"Sor-ry!" Max II said. "Why do I even have to fight these guys anyway!"

"You're supposed to represent the old Max. Her fighting skills were superb, as you've found out. But yours are nothing in comparison, yet. You need training."

"Duh." Max II said under her breath. She wheeled around and walked into the School, mumbling under her breath.

* * *

The next day came very quickly. We weren't going to see Iggy until the afternoon, so Fang and I had time to go and see if we could get Angel and Gazzy to come along.

WE walked up to a very posh house in a very posh neighborhood. It had a large green yard in front and a long pathway to the door. Fang and I trudged up the path and rang the doorbell. We waited. I noticed the door also had a very grandeur knocker, like the ones you might see in "A Christmas Carol." I could tell that it was only for decoration, though.

"Hello?" asked a woman. She had fair hair and big blue eyes. We were definitely at the right place.

"Hi, are the kids home?" I asked. I had just realized that I didn't know what their real names were.

"Yes, who are you?" the woman asked.

"Sorry, we help out in their classroom sometimes. They'll know us." Fang's excuse was brilliant.

The woman smiled and nodded. I'll be right back. You can come in, if you want."

We nodded and stepped inside. The house had high arches and a huge sweeping staircase on the left side of the room. The woman was prancing up them. The floor was tiled and very clean. The left side of the room held a door that led to the dining room and the right led to the den. Straight ahead of us, there was a huge glass door that led out back to a beautiful garden.

"Whoa," Fang breathed.

"Yeah, whoa," I agreed. I glanced over at him. I could see the tiniest bit of jealousy in his eyes. I didn't blame him. He lived in a small home with bad siding and creaky floors. There was absolutely nothing creaky about this house.

"Richard, Genevieve!" we heard the woman call from up the stairs.

"They even have posh names," I whispered to Fang. He nodded.

Two minutes later we saw them, rushing down the stairs toward us. If I didn't know the Angel didn't have wings, I would have sworn she flew into my arms. But really she just ran really fast and pretty much tackled me.

"Max Max Max Max Max Max Max!!!!!" She cried, nearly suffocating me.

I laughed and patted her curls. "Hey, Angel," I cooed softly in her ear. It was official; my life was now complete.

Angel was still hugging my shoulders when Gazzy came and hugged my waist. I thought I was going to fall over.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Fang interrupted, grinning. Angel hopped down from me and jumped up on him. I heard the breath leave him with a whoosh, but he didn't fall down. After hugs and a couple tears, we stood back.

"Mom, can we go with them Max's house?" Angel, uh, Genevieve, asked.

Angel did Bambi eyes at her mother. "Okay, I guess you can go."

Angel beamed and hugged her mom. We left a few minutes later.

"Angel, can you still control minds?" I asked as we were leaving.

"No, I'm just cute," she said. WE all laughed at that.

On the way to my home Fang explained everything to Gazzy and Angel. And in return, they explained everything to us. Well, at least Gazzy did.

"Well, our dad is a MAJOR business guy. He runs a huge company. At least the portion of the company that's based in D.C. Mom is a doctor, and she works at one of those cancer institutes. So we're rich," the Gasman explained.

I glanced at Fang. "What company does your dad run?" I asked.

the Gasman hesitated. "Um, Itex D.C."

"You're kidding me."

"Nope. But you know, we had to keep the take over the world thing quiet, but we know it's happening. All our food is Itex, our bed covers are Itex, and our floors are Itex. WE don't say anything to Dad though. But we've been watching out."

"Oh, that's good," I said, slightly relieved that they hadn't spilt the beans. Fang nodded but he was apparently deep in thought.

"So where are we going?" Angel asked.

I thought. First we have to go to Fang's house and get Nudge. Then we're going to meet my mom at Iggy's show. We're going to rescue him."

"We are? YAY!" Angel said. She grinned, a cute, Angel grin.

A thought popped into my head. I slipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone (weird huh?). I dialed the number that was labeled "Home" and called my mom.

"Hey mom, is it alright if I meet you at the show? I'm running late," I said.

"Sure, it's just around the corner at the auditorium. But be careful, okay?"

Boy, my mom was easy!

It wasn't long before we reached Fang's house and it took about ten minutes to find Nudge and fill her in. Then we started to walk to the auditorium. It was harder than I'd thought, though, because we didn't have nearly as much stamina here as in the real world. But we made it.

We were a few hours early. I had made an excuse to my mom that I had a school report to work on the "Zac" and it would be a while. But really, we wanted to get to the auditorium early so that we could scheme with Iggy.

It didn't take long to find him. He was backstage, and Angel used Bambi eyes to get us back there. Well, it was that and also that her dad was head of Itex D.C. But we got in, so what does it matter?

He was in a dressing room, alone. Thank goodness. "Iggy!" I whispered. He jumped. He turned instantly and saw us standing by the door.

"Cripes! Guys!" he said, coming to us. "How did you all get here?"

"Long story, we'll explain later. But right now we have to figure out a way to you out of here!"

Iggy thought for what seemed like a millisecond before he came up with something. He told us that while he was flying he was usually attached by the ankle to a long rope so that he wouldn't fly off. (hmm, kinda makes you wonder, don't it?) Fang, using his stealth mode, got onto the stage and loosened the rope so that if tugged in the slightest bit, it would come undone. Halfway through the show, at intermission, we would make an excuse to leave for food or bathrooms or something. Just after intermission, when the show started again, we would be positioned out the exit backstage. Iggy would loosen his rope, get free, and meet us at my house. It was flawless!

I couldn't wait.


	16. The Escape, Part 1

This one is shorter than the last, but there's some cool stuff here. ;)

Chapter 16: Escape, Part 1

We put the plan into action at the show later that day. The show wasn't until three, so we spent about an hour explaining everything to Iggy. Sometimes we had to snap our fingers in front of his face. He seemed distracted by the fact that he could actually see us. I don't blame him.

He told us about his family, about how nice they were. Then Nudge added something about them being nice even though they tie him to a post, and Iggy glared at her. Actually, we all glared at her. She was silent for a while after that.

Soon, it was time for us to go get our seats. We had set up our plan of action to perfection. It was only a matter of time...

We watched the show, but having actually experienced flying ourselves, we didn't cheer quite as much as the people around us. But soon enough, intermission came, and we snuck out of the arena to the back door. When we heard a bunch of people gasp and scream, we knew that Iggy had gotten free. Gee, you'd think that they thought of him as a horrible monster, like an elephant. It was pathetic.

But we ran as fast as we could to the spot where Iggy has said he'd meet us. That place was the patch of woods behind Fang's trailer, the same place Nudge had stayed ever since we got back from Arizona. We gathered and stacked fists for the first time in what felt like forever.

We still had to figure out how to get out of the dream. It wasn't going to be easy, we knew that for sure. But we all agreed that each of us would think as hard as we could about it. We knew that soon we would have an idea.

Later that night, I sat on watch when I heard something move behind me. We had decided that it would be safer to stay away from our families. That way, when we did figure out how to escape, there would be no question as to whether or not we really did want to go. So it was my job to make sure that none of our parents came looking for us.

I twisted quickly to look around, nearly giving myself whiplash in the process. It was only Fang. My shoulders relaxed and I slouched against the tree again.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," Fang replied.

After a pause I said, "Do you think we'll even be able to get out of here?"

"Yes, I do," he replied, sitting next to me. He was silent for a minute before saying, "Do you think we'll remember any of it?" I thought for sure I heard a hint of sadness in his voice. And then I knew what he was talking about.

"Fang," I said. He turned his face toward me and then I planted a kiss on his lips. He was startled at first, but then he kissed me back, obviously reassured. That's what I had been aiming for. After we broke apart I said, "Of course we will." He smiled at me, and I smiled back, taking his hand.

Then something horrifying happened.

His hand started to disappear, right before my eyes.

* * *

Ari was in the white room, bracing himself for what he was about to do. He was wearing big leather gloves. He took a deep breath and lifted Fang off of the white table. He made a 360 to see if any of the whitecoats were around. They weren't. He made a dash for the door, Fang's head bobbing precariously with his motion. And then he was out of the white room, heading down the hallway. He would have to come back for Max later.

* * *

"Fang!" I exclaimed. He was quickly fading. Even his touch was becoming fainter and fainter.

"Max," he said in a normal voice. But no matter how loud he spoke, he was barely audible. I grasped his hands, but through them I could feel my nails clenching my own palms.

"Hang on, Fang!" I said. I could hear the flock stirring behind me. I looked behind me for a split second, seeing Iggy and Nudge starting to sit up. Then I looked back.

Fang was gone.


	17. The Escape, Part 2

Thanks for all the reviews! I'm updating faster here than on any of my other stories so far! This is a longer chapter, and there are two more shorter ones after this, but that's it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Do I really need to elaborate?

Chapter 17: Escape Part 2

ARI POV

I was halfway down he hall when I felt movement. And I could barely hear someone say, "Max."

You've got to be kidding me.

I slowed to a stop and dropped Fang. His head hit the ground mercilessly. That's got to leave a mark.

I turned; I had to get out of there before he woke up. I began striding away, but not before I heard movement and felt a hard kick to my back. I whirled, snarling, and clawed at him. He dodged it. I transformed and threw myself at him with every bit of force I had in me. But he dodged me again, and I slammed into the wall. Boy, for being asleep for two weeks he sure knew what he was doing.

_He's not supposed to survive this,_ I thought to myself. _Fang must die!_

The fight continued. I threw kicks and clawed at him, trying to at least touch him. But he was too fast. He kept hitting me with hard kicks to my side and uppercuts to my jaw. After one of the uppercuts, my top jaw ricocheted and bit down. I tasted blood and realized that one of my canines had pierced my tongue. This fellow really made me angry.

But by the time I recovered, I couldn't see him anymore. That is, until I felt a sharp pain to the back of my head. I fell, tears streaming from my eyes, and then everything went black.

* * *

I gasped and swung my hands through the air in front of me. Fang was gone Fang was gone Fang was gone! I felt the ground, the tree, everything, searching for signs of him.

"Max? What's up?" said Iggy behind me.

"Fang's gone!" I said. "He--he just disappeared!" Tears began streaming down my face. This couldn't be happening!

"Fang's gone?" asked Nudge. "Where'd he go? How'd he disappear? What's going on? How do we get him back? Did he figure out a way to wake up?"

"Nudge! Be quiet, I'm thinking!" I snapped. She shut her mouth and bit her lip. I felt bad for snapping out at her, but there was nothing I could do about it.

"We have to look for him," Iggy said, already starting to look around. And yes, he was looking, and he seemed really happy about it.

"Wake up Gazzy and Angel, Nudge," I told her. She nodded and did as I told her. I began looking around desperately. But inside, I knew it was useless. Fang hadn't gone anywhere. He'd woken up.

* * *

FANG POV

I had knocked Ari out. What an alarm clock. But then it hit me. I was awake! I looked back down the hall. The left side of the hall had glass panels and what seemed to be a room for conducting experiments. Further down the hall there was a door. It caught my attention because it was a solid door, with no windows. I just knew that was where I'd come from.

I ran towards the door, hoping I'd find the rest of the flock on the other side. And I did. But at first he room was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. I felt for a light switch and found one. The white light came on, and I was stunned at how alien the flock looked in that white room. I saw that one table was bare, meaning that it was where I had been. On either side of it Max and Iggy lay, breathing slowly. I could only take one at a time.

I approached Max's table. She was so beautiful when she was still. Gah! It was not the time to think about that. I lifted her in my arms, which was harder than it sounds. I crept out of the room. Across the way I saw a door open, and a whitecoat walk into the experiment room. I ducked down so that he wouldn't see me and set Max on the floor. I bent over her, hoping she would wake up. I patted her cheeks gently, trying to rouse her. And then, with wild hope, I kissed her on the lips. And then I heard it. She was coming back.

* * *

I turned around another tree and looked with naive hope. And then something startled me. My cheeks started ringing, and I touched them. They stung a bit, as someone had slapped them. And then something else happened. My lips started ringing, and I touched them. I lifted my hand in front of my eyes. What I had thought was happening was coming true. I was waking up.

I collapsed, and everything went black.

I opened my eyes almost to be blinded by the light above me. Then a shadow passed over my vision. It looked like a head.

"Max?" I heard Fang whisper.

I shook my head so I could focus better. Then I saw him. "Fang!" I cried. I jumped up and threw my arms around his neck. "I was so worried, what happened?"

To my surprise he hugged me back, and whispered in my ear, "We're free, Max."

Really, could it be true? It couldn't be. But after I broke apart from Fang I realized that I was lying on a cold, tiled floor, in a long hallway. I looked behind me, and saw Ari lying on the floor, unconscious. I gave Fang a questioning look. He told me what had happened, and I stared at him, wide-eyed. If what he said was true, we needed to get the flock out of their room immediately.

It wasn't long before we had everyone out of the room and awake. Iggy seemed sour; after all, he couldn't see again. We had put Ari in the white room and we all gathered outside the door. And then Nudge posed the question that we'd all been dreading.

"How do we escape if our wings are clipped?"

I was about to answer when I heard a voice behind me say, "But they aren't...anymore."

And that voice didn't belong to any one in the flock.


	18. Truth or Dare?

You're gonna be surprised! And, to add to it, I'll post two chapters. ;)

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! I'll list you all by name in chapter twenty.

Disclaimer: Seriously, I'M A GIRL. Last time I checked, James Patterson was not.

Chapter 18: Truth or Dare

I spun around, ready to fight. The flock did the same. A woman was standing behind us. She had thick-rimmed, square glasses. Her blonde-brown hair was tied in a knot on top of her head. It had a pencil sticking out of it. And get this. She was wearing a white coat.

The color white seems to be playing a big part in our little adventure, doesn't it?

The catch was that she wasn't backed up by Erasers, or any other person for that matter. And she didn't seem like a fighter. I nodded at Fang and he got my message. He swiftly approached the woman and took her arm behind her back. He pushed up gently, triggering a pressure point and a bit of pain.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I demanded.

"Let me go and I'll tell you what I can," she said, after Fang let up a little. He pushed up again after that response.

"We won't let you go," he said. "But you're going to tell us what you know."

The woman looked at us with what seemed like admiration in her eyes. It didn't surprise me; Jeb often looked at us that way. But no matter what, it was still confusing.

Fang pushed up on her arm one more time and steered her to an empty room. Fang released her and she plopped onto the floor. The walls of the room were tan and the floor had a dark, patterned carpet on it. Much warmer than white. Fang stood leaning against a wall nearby her, leaning casually with his foot propped against the wall. If you knew Fang, it was clear that his body language read, "Just try to get past me."

The rest of the flock followed us into the room. Nudge and Gazzy sat in the corner opposite the woman's. I sat in the only chair on the room, which happened to be behind a desk. I felt very principal-y. Iggy was standing behind me.

"What do you know?" I asked.

"I know a lot more than you think I do, Max. I know where you've been, what you've done, and what you've said through the past months," the woman began.

"How would you know that?" I asked, suddenly defensive.

She ignored me. "I also know exactly what you've been thinking. You and I have even had a chat now and again before."

Fang shot me a look. He thought that I had outside communications, but he was forgetting that I also spoke with someone I couldn't see.

"You're the Voice?" I asked.

The woman nodded.

I was suddenly furious. "You're the one who's been giving me those headaches? You're the one who's always giving me that gung-ho save the world junk? 'Oh, I don't know what the whitecoats are planning,' my butt. You're one of them! I've been playing by your rules; I've been your puppet!" I was standing now, and shouting. This couldn't be happening! I was being used! My face was beet red. I felt hot and angry. It took all my self control not to go up and kick that woman where she sat.

I was standing over her, glaring down at her. Fang moved from his position for a moment to rub my back. I looked at him, and his gaze made me settle down a bit. I backed up.

"You know I almost wound up killing myself because of you," I said to her, in a normal voice.

"That wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't want it to happen. But you need me to let you explain everything. But it might take a while."

I sat down in the chair. I really did want to hear what she had to say.

"I'm ready."


	19. Who Can You Trust Nowadays?

Long chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: No, seriously, I don't own ANY of the flock. Just the pictures I drew of them. ;)

Chapter 19: Who Can You Trust Nowadays?

"I'm not technically supposed to tell you this," the woman said.

"I'll just add this to the list of other things that we're not supposed to know."

The woman shaking her head, smiling. "Alright. You know you're supposed to save the world. Jeb told me he told you that."

I nodded. I resisted the urge to yawn in her face.

"I'll start at the beginning. You were created by Itex to save the world."

"Hang on," I interrupted. "I thought Itex was the one we were supposed to save the world _from_."

"_Save the world_ is in their terms. They want you to save the world from human destruction. For some reason, they believe that humans are contaminating the world, every human besides themselves. So they created beings who were only 98 human. They believe that in the future the entire population will be only part-human. They want to change the world."

"That's insane." This time it wasn't me who spoke, but Fang. "How do they possibly think that could work?"

"Don't ask me," the woman said, turning to Fang. "I've had other responsibilities. Namely, watching over _her_," she said, jabbing a thumb in my direction. I folded my arms and glared at her.

"I think we've been doing a good enough job of that," Fang replied. The woman shrugged and turned back to me.

"We brought you back to the school when you came after Angel. We broke the news to you. When you didn't take it well, we wanted to test you to see that you actually did have what it takes. That was when you escaped. You weren't supposed to, but you did. You started traveling to New York, and that's where I came in. It was my job to be sure you followed their rules, to make sure you didn't stray to far off path.

"Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. You are much more strong-willed than I originally thought you would be."

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't know whether that's a compliment or not. I'm guessing not."

"Quite the contrary. It's an admirable trait. But very difficult to work with. If I could have, I would have saved you trouble by telling you not to kill Ari. But your thoughts were elsewhere, and I couldn't reach you.

"It was this that called for the Director. She thought you had gotten too far out of control. Ari returned to you and injured Fang. This was the Director's chance to get things back under control. Without any of us knowing, she resumed her alias identity as an FBI agent. She took you into her home and studied you face to face. I was the only one who knew she did this because I'm connected to you. I didn't approve, but I told no one. No one, that is, except the person I'm closest to. He told me that things were in turmoil when he arrived, and he couldn't get a hold on the situation.

"You were gone before I could do anything. So I decided to put a subconscious thought it your mind to go to Florida. Angel read that thought and suggested it, just as I thought she would. She was the perfect tool, because I knew you would ignore me if I suggested it."

"Hey!" Angel and I said at the same time.

"After that I tried to rein you in. I had to keep you on track. But then you went to the beach. I tried to stop you, but that fueled you further ahead. You tried to get rid of me, but it didn't work. It really crushed me when you did that. I'm thankful to Fang that he stopped you. I don't know what I would've done if you'd succeeded."

Fang glanced at her then at me. I net his gaze for a split second before the pressure caused me to look away. I turned back to the woman. "Were you concerned for your job, or actually for me?" I had no doubt in my mind that she cared about her job and that I was just a tool.

"Actually, for you. I care for you more than you think."

I ignored that. "Continue, please."

"So you got to Itex. I really didn't know what they had planned. I had my job, and I did it. Apparently, they were upset about what happened at the Director's. They decided to replace you, Max. You know why already. I had no say in what they did with you. I deeply frown upon the isolation tank."

"Join the club," I said, rolling my eyes.

"You escaped, and then we got here. Max II was almost a success, but she didn't succeed wit the original flock. She survived the Itex explosion, and they decided to make a second flock to replace all of you. So we clipped your wings and put you into a dream state. I had virtually lost my job watching you, so I was assigned to help improve Erasers. All while you slept. They wanted to show you what would happen if the flock never existed. They never wanted you to wake up.

"But then Ari decided to interfere. He is almost as head-strong as you. I don't know what his train of thought was, but I know that he wanted to kidnap you and Fang. But when he removed you from the White Room, you woke up. Because you've been sleeping and because of your speedy recovering abilities, your wings have already grown back. You can escape. I would prefer you not, but you could."

"We don't care what you prefer. Let's get out of here guys."

"Wait, Max." For the first time since we began the "interview", Iggy spoke up. He spoke to the woman. "You mentioned, "The one whom I was closest to." Who is that?"

Ooh. Good point. I hadn't really thought about that.

"Jeb." The woman said simply.

"And how are you closest to him?" Iggy pushed.

"He's my husband."

I laughed. "Jeb? Married? NOW you're pulling our wings!" I slapped my knee.

"No, seriously. He is," the woman persisted. I ignored it. The likely hood was that she was lying.

"And what can we call you?" Iggy asked. ooh. Hadn't thought about that either.

"You," said the woman, motioning to the flock, "can call me Lila. Max..." she paused.

Hang on a second. Lola, Lila. Lola Lila. John. Jeb? My thoughts were interrupted when the woman began speaking again.

"...As for Max, she can call me Mom."


	20. I Just Want To Leave it All Behind

Ok, like I promised, I want to thank everyone who's reviewed so far! Thanks, bookgirl, CrimsonScarz, MaxRideObsessed, becca, O' Future Ruler Maria Larry, maximumcalories, hannah, MoonLady13, ihrtbks, hotlipsb, MandaLauren, Aqua279, angelzonedge, loria, LoreleiRhetorical, and ShiroEtoile!

Disclaimer: ...I think you guys get the point.

Chapter 20: I Just Want To Leave It All Behind...

Fury burned in my chest. I shoved my chair away from the table, tears threatening to run down my face. I turned and ran out of the room, away from that horrible woman.

I just ran down the hall, not caring about anything but the hurt I felt inside. I faintly heard someone behind me call my name, but my ears were ringing. I kept running. My heart was pounding, tears were pouring, I had a non-chip induced headache, and my ears were ringing so much I thought I was going deaf.

I heard someone call my name again, and then the breath left my chest as some on bulldozed into my back, sending me crashing to the floor. The person got up off of me and rolled me over, holding my shoulders tight.

"Max! Snap out of it!" I heard some one say. It was Fang. How could he expect me to snap out of it? I could barely concentrate, my thoughts were reeling. But soon I was able to see again, and I saw his face looming over me. There were five shapes behind his head, but I couldn't make them out. I was able to think again, shortly after, and Fang's grip loosened. I reached my hand up to touch his cheek, and he lifted me up into a sitting position. I kissed him, and he kissed back.

I heard a cough behind him, and when I looked I saw four totally grossed out faces and one nonchalant face. I grasped Fang's shoulder for balance and stood. He helped me up. I turned to the one nonchalant face, my mother's, and smacked it. I could have done much worse damage, and I wanted to, but I just couldn't. She winced, but didn't do anything.

"Come on, guys," I said, motioning to my flock. "We're outta here." I ran to the other end of the hallway, past the windows. I motioned for them to go past me. Fang paused in front of me, but I told him, "Go." He nodded and ran to the other end of the hall, where there was a huge window. The flock smashed through it and out into the night air.

I turned to go, but then I heard the woman shout, "No, I won't let you!" I turned to run from her but she screamed and I heard a thud. I began running down the hallway, not looking back and preparing my wings (Oh, my wings!) for flight. Then something caught my ankle and a fell, my chin hitting the floor. The air left me for the second time in ten minutes.

"You're not going anywhere, Princess!" shouted a voice behind me. I felt something tighten around my ankle and suddenly I was being dragged down the hallway, not gently either.

With one last shot of hope, I screamed, at the top of my lungs, "FAANG!" I was sure he hadn't heard. Then I felt a boot to my head and the last thing I remember seeing was Fang's face through the broken shards of glass, concern and anger burning on his face. Then everything went black.


	21. Survival is the Most Difficult Task

This is one of my fave chappies! Max rants, there is a special surprise concerning Fang, and an evil wolf-dude gets his butt kicked.

Disclaimer: Please...believe me...I'm telling the truth!!! I don't own any of it!!!

Chapter 21: Survival is the Most Difficult Task

I roused later on. I didn't know how much time had passed since I had been kicked in the head, how long it had been since I'd seen Fang's face in the broken window. I moved my hand to my side, trying to take in my surroundings.

To my horror, I felt a soft bed underneath me. No no no no no! I was back in the dream! This couldn't be right! I snapped my eyes open. I had been mulling over that last picture I had of Fang. I gazed at the ceiling. It wasn't right. My eyes traveled over to the wall, which were not joyous and lilac, but dark and grimy. Maybe they had put me in a nightmare to punish me. I wished I could go back to that last vision of Fang. I sat up. Though that last vision had been angry and concerned, it was much better than the sight of him I saw when I woke up.

He was pinned against the wall by Ari's forearm, six inches in the air. In the arm Ari wasn't using to pin up Fang hung at his side, loosely fingering a gun. I gasped. Fang's dark eyes glanced at me, and Ari followed his gaze.

"Ah, the Princess is awake," he said. Ugh. What a creep. He turned to me, tightened his hold on his gun and let Fang slide to the ground, sputtering for breath. What is the world coming to, letting 7-year olds tote guns?

"Yes; and the Princess would like to know where on earth she is and why in the world you are here with her," I replied. Unfortunately, this was no dream. It was all real. All horribly real.

Ari laughed a cold, menacing, wolf-man laugh. "Someplace where you're not going to escape."

"I've escaped you several times before, Ari. What makes you think that I won't be able to this time?"

"Because soon you won't have your Prince Charming to save you." Ari cocked the gun and aimed it at Fang. I let out an involuntary gasp. Ari laughed again. Fang tensed against the wall. Anyone who didn't know him wouldn't have seen it. Luckily, Ari didn't, so he wasn't able to feed off of Fang's fear.

"Let...him...go," I said tersely. I clenched at my sides. The only thing that kept me from kicking his guts out right then and there was, of course, the gun in his hand, which could turn on me in the blink of an eye.

"No," Ari said. "Because if I let him go, he'll just come back and rescue you. I've had enough of that. You're not getting away, this time, Maximum. I'll be sure of it." And he pulled the trigger.

I screamed and covered my eyes, turning away in horror. Ari cackled. I shrieked in fury and whipped back around to attack him. But I couldn't. He had already left the room, locking the door behind him. My eyes shot to Fang, whose head was slumped on his shoulder. I feared the worst.

I ran over to him and kneeled in front of him and ripped a hole the size of my fist in his shirt where I saw blood coming from. The bullet had hit him in the top corner of his chest cavity. Blood was seeping out consistently. I ripped the sleeve off my t-shirt and desperately tried to halt the flow. It was no use. Blood just soaked through the thin strip and in between my fingers. I changed position over to his left side, and checked the pulse in his neck.

It was there! But it was incredibly faint and fading quickly. I knew I couldn't save him now. I slumped over onto is ropy shoulder, sobbing my heart out. I was losing him. Fang! The only one I've ever loved! Hang on, did I just say loved? Yes, I did, and it was the truth.

How I longed to hear him saying my name again, to feel his hard, secure arm wrapping around me. Telling me it was alright when it wasn't. For a moment, I thought I actually did hear him saying my name. It was barely audible. I knew I was imagining it. Then I imagined that I felt his arm coming up to mine. The memories kept me sobbing. Then I heard my name again. I couldn't be imagining it! I looked up, and to my surprise, I saw his beautiful dark eyes looking back at me.

My heart dropped down to my knees. This isn't happening. Is it? His other hand moved up to my hair and stroked it. I heard him shushing me, telling me it was alright. Was it actually alright this time? I couldn't be imagining all of this. Unless I was going insane. Which was very likely. I whispered it to myself, telling myself out loud that I was going nuts.

"No, Max, you're not insane. I'm here. It's going to be okay."

I definitely wasn't imagining that.

"Fang!" I shouted, whispering. Does that sound odd to you? You would have done it in my position, believe me. If your true love had come back to life but you were scared that a mutant wolf-dude would come in and kill you, trust me, you would.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and took a deep breath, my breath still shuddering from crying. He turned his head and kissed my forehead. Oh, Fang was alive! Now I knew that we would be fine. I untangled myself from him and positioned myself to his front. He had been shot in the chest cavity. How could he have survived? I opened the hole that was already there and checked his skin.

There wasn't even a scratch. Besides the stain in his shirt, there wasn't even any blood.

"Fang, how did you...?"

He shrugged. "It must be a new power. I've never been able to do it until now."

I smiled. "Welcome to the club. Now we can all do something!" He smirked and relaxed for a minute. He explained that he may have healed, but he still hurt like h-e-double toothpicks. I sat back a moment to let him recover.

Then I heard tramping elsewhere in the house. Ari. I had forgotten. Only for a moment in my joy had I forgotten. I whispered to Fang my plan. Basically, he had to play dead until I had done what I needed to do.

The tramping feet approached my door. I heard jangling keys and at the last minute I threw myself on my bed, burying my face in the pillow. I pretended to sob, but really, I was chuckling to myself. Ari wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

"Max?" he asked. I continued "sobbing."

He approached me and dared to touch my back to see if I was alright. (Now, before I continue, I need to rant. How could he possibly think I'd be alright? He's tried to kill me on several occasions, almost killed Fang three times now, right in front of me, and imprisoned me in some unknown place. How dumb can he be? Pretty dumb, I guess. Alright, I'm done.)

At the touch I whipped around, grasped his hand and kicked him in the gut, pulling him into the kick. He doubled over, coughing. I continued to throw a hook kick at his head. I motioned to Fang, who came around behind him and trapped him in a headlock. Fang pulled Ari up, one arm around his neck, and one tightly grasping his hair.

Ari sputtered when he saw Fang, "But you were dead!" I kicked him again. He huffed.

"Now, I really don't want to kill you again, but if you don't show us the way out of here, I guess I'll just have to," I said. "But maybe I won't. How do you expect me to kill my own brother?"

He glanced at me, horrified.

"Uh-huh," I said, milking the moment. "That woman in the hall was my mom. She was married to Jeb. Jeb is your father. So whether we're half-siblings or what, I don't know. But it's such a vicious circle, isn't it?" I chuckled.

Ari growled. Fang yanked at his hair and he whimpered. He didn't say anything but, "This way." He motioned his head toward the door. Fang led him out. The outside of the room was another room, which looked like a den/kitchen. To our left was a small hallway with nothing but a bathroom and another bedroom, which I guessed to be Ari's. Straight ahead was the door.

We approached it, and as we opened it, Fang chopped Ari in the temple, and he collapsed, unconscious. Fang and I took off running. Once we were a good distance from wherever we were, we stopped to catch our breath. I laughed with the joy of freedom and Fang smiled. I glanced at him, and then we were embraced, kissing. We had been so near to permanent separation, all we wanted right now was each other's company. A few minutes later we took off flying. It had been so long, but soon we had adjusted, and we were off. Off to find the flock.


	22. Ready Or Not, Here We Come!

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! There's still a lot more to go...(I don't even know how much more there is!) Here's another chappie!

Disclaimer: PLEASE! I'M SERIOUS! I am NOT James Patterson!!

Chapter 22: Ready Or Not, Here We Come!

Fang and I had been flying for who knows how long. We were getting tired, but we still didn't have a very clear idea of where we were. Without any other choice, we landed in a town nearby. We had to figure out where we were. As soon as we did that and got some rest, we had to find the flock.

Weren't we in a similar situation not more than a few days ago?

Luckily, the town we landed in had a library. We hadn't caught sight of a street sign as we landed, but we soon figured it out. We were in Clay City, Kentucky. This must mean that we had been at Itex while we were asleep. We hadn't destroyed the entire complex during the explosion, any way. Besides, those freaky scientists had huge, blubbering Erasers at their disposal: rebuilding the place would have been easy.

Fang said that we ought to find a computer and figure out a way to get back to Florida without winding up in Cuba. I agreed with him. The thing was, the library was so huge, and we didn't know where to go. I stood on my toes, trying to see a sign of computers over the many rows of shelves.

"Excuse me," said a voice next to me. I looked down to see a rather short girl with red hair. She looked to be my age, maybe a year younger, but she was obviously talking to me. "Are you looking for computers?" Her voice was heavy with an accent. She had bright red hair and she seemed real dazzled up, wearing a cheetah print top and jeans with cheetah accents. She was also wearing a cheetah hat.

"Um, yeah," I said, still looking over her out-standing clothing.

"They're downstairs. The name's Natalie. I'm from around here. I come here a lot. You're lucky you ran into me, I know his place like the back of my hand." Natalie began walking off, and I had no choice but to follow her. I glanced back over my shoulder and whistled.

"Fang! Over here!" I called. He turned and jogged to catch up.

Natalie looked at me with an odd expression. "Fang? What kind of a name is that?"

"It's not his real name," I quickly corrected. "It's Nick." I referred back to his old alias. I didn't like calling Fang Zac.

Natalie shrugged and led us to the stairway. We followed her down into an open room, smaller than upstairs but still with plenty of shelves. We went around a corner and saw the computer station.

"Thanks, Natalie," I said as Fang sat down at the computer.

"No problem." She turned to go, but then Fang exclaimed that he couldn't log on. "Oh, you don't have a card? I should've guessed, you don't sound like you're from around here. Here, you can use mine."

She handed us her card and instructed us on how to log in. We finally did, and Fang got online. He opened two screens, one for his blog and one for Map Quest. He printed out a map to Florida, and then went to update his blog.

"Goin' to Florida?" said Natalie, who had yet to leave. She was hovering over Fang's shoulder. I could tell it annoyed him; his jaw was tight and he was constantly looking behind him.

"Cool blog. Whoa, what is that?" she asked, pointing at the screen.

Fang had clicked on his most recent post to read the comments, and the screen had turned bright green. Yellow letters scrolled across.

FaNg AnD MaX. ThIs WaS ThE OnLy WaY I CoUlD ReAcH YoU SaFeLy, SiNcE I'vE GiVeN Up UsInG ThE ChIp. ThE FlOck Is SaFe At My HoUsE NeAr OkEfEnOkEe SwAmP. Be CaReFuL GeTtInG HeRe.

-LiLa BaTcHeLdEr-RiDe

I clenched my jaw. If Lila was on our side, why did she send us a message so obvious? Maybe she just wasn't as clever as I thought. Okefenokee Swamp? Well, that was a fairly isolated area I guess. But I was severely worried about Natalie.

I glanced at her. "Flock? Chip? Careful?" she asked, looking from Fang to me. "What's the deal?"

Fang stood up quickly and grabbed the directions to Florida. Okefenokee Swamp was close to there, anyway. We took off running, hoping we could find the exit to the massive library alone. But apparently we took the wrong stairwell and wound up in a maze of shelves and racks.

I moaned. "Fang! What'll we do now?"

"I'll help you." Great. Natalie had followed us. I glanced at Fang. His face was impassive, and for once I think he was as indecisive as I was.

"All right," I sighed. Natalie started walking quickly through the shelves, and before we knew it we were out in the back courtyard.

"All right, I'm not dull. I know something is going on here. Tell me what." Natalie folded her arms and stared us down. I hadn't known the kid long, but I could tell she was really stubborn.

"Sorry, Natalie, but we have to fly."

"There's no exit this way. I had to find out what was going on before I led you out."

"Trust me; there's an exit for us." I unfolded my wings and turned to take off. But I couldn't.

Natalie's eyes were as big as dinner plates when she saw our wings. Her mouth was open slightly. "You...you...h-have wi-wings?" she asked.

"Yeah. Natalie, if you ever tell anyone in the world that you've seen us, you'll have me, Maximum Ride, to deal with. To prove my point I kicked a nearby tree. A few splinters let loose and I left an indent. I really didn't want to threaten her, but she didn't seem like the type of person to keep things quiet.

She nodded her eyes still wide. She reminded me of a zombie. I would have laughed if I weren't so nervous. I ran and took off, Fang right behind me.

Inside I was beating myself up for spilling our secret. That was now two humans who knew about our wings. I bit my lip, and Fang gave me a look. And he surprised me by laughing and zooming ahead a bit. I laughed too. I caught up with him and took his hand. Then I flashed into super speed, towing Fang along with me. I headed south. I was going to get my flock back. Lila or no Lila.


	23. Okefenokee Dokey

This chapter is FUN. Well, it was fun to write. So was the next one. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!

Disclaimer: How many times do I have to say it? Oh, well, I guess as many times as I update...so several more times. :)

Chapter 23: Okefenokee-Dokey

Fang and I had been flying for hours. I couldn't go hyper speed forever. After a while, it can get a little exhausting, especially towing another mutant kid behind you.

"What do you think we'll find at Okefenokee?" I asked him.

"Well, Lila said she lived there. Doesn't make sense to me if she's supposed to be Jeb's wife, but she also says the flock is safe," he replied.

"Do we trust her?" I asked. But before Fang could give an answer, someone else replied.

"I don't know if you should trust anyone." We were suddenly attacked by Erasers. I went all out. I had a lot of revenge to catch up on. I quickly scanned some of the Erasers' faces, but I didn't see Ari among them for a change.

I threw a roundhouse kick at my nearest opponent and chopped him in the jaw. While he was distracted I threw him over my knee and chopped at the back of his neck. I withdrew the support of my knee and he fell, face down, to the ground. I felt something behind me and I flipped upside down, kicking the Eraser that had trued to leap on my back in the chest. He flew backward and fell also. I almost wished we had Angel here to just make them drop out of the sky.

Fang was nearby, fighting three Erasers. He performed a 360 kick that hit all three of them. Two came back at him. He sliced one across the jaw, and blood spurted from the wound. The Eraser made a gargling scream sound and retreated.

"Coward!" the same voice I had heard before was nearby. Oh freakin' rabbit pellets.

It was Max II, surrounded by the rest of the flock remakes. Max II snapped her fingers and the fake flock flew at me. The Erasers had already backed off. Iggy II went to attack Fang. Fighting them was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do. Every time I hit Gazzy II or smacked Nudge II, I felt like I was hitting the real thing. It took all my strength not to stop fighting.

Angel II was hanging back with Max II. Max II whistled and the Flock II backed off. I was too startled to really think about what was happening. I didn't move. But then I knew I had to. Then something happened.

_Don't move, Max._ It was the voice of Angel II, in my head. I thought about resisting, but I couldn't. The only movement Angel II allowed was my flapping wings to keep me airborne. Then she flew up to me. I noticed that Nudge, Iggy, and Gazzy were holding Fang in place. What was going on? Then Angel II made my wings stop moving.

I fell. I was falling fast, and I was quickly losing consciousness. Then I felt something around me. Fang's arms. He had gotten free! Then everything went black.

When I roused later on, I was lying on some soft moss. I looked up to see Fang standing nearby, keeping watch. Sunlight streamed through the trees.

"Hey," I said. He acknowledged me with a nod. "How long has it been?" He shrugged.

How weird. Maybe he was just tired. I know I still was. He motioned to his backpack, and I saw a box of power bars hanging out of it. I gratefully ate one. I was too weak to fly yet, so we just hung out in the little clearing all day. I knew we were in Okefenokee, but I didn't know where. I'd just have to wait.

That night, Fang and I sat around the fire. I attempted several times to start a conversation, but Fang hadn't said a word all day. It bothered me. I decided though, that I ought to get some rest, because the next day I would start to search for the flock.

"You take first watch?" I asked. He stood and nodded. Then I kissed him, because I felt like it. His eyes widened and he pushed me away. I backed off. "Fang, what's' going on?"

_Flashback: Fang II hung in the background, avoiding the fight, as if waiting for something..._

I gasped, and then turned and ran. I had been with Fang II the whole time!

But, you know, I had to be really stupid and run into a swamp that I was unfamiliar with. I was ankle deep in mud half of the time. And then I fell face down into muddy water, filled with algae and moss. I sputtered and kicked, and finally found my footing. The water was about up to my shoulders.

With no choice, I began walking toward what I hoped was the other end of the pond. It wasn't getting any deeper, so I felt lucky. Then I saw movement somewhere on the bank I had just come from. It had to be Fang II, coming after me.

Something surfaced nearby. Oh my gosh, this stupid, stupid swamp! The alligator swam closer, and I tried swimming to the other end. Except I didn't know where the end was. All I could do was swim forward, hoping to reach the bank.

But of course nothing can go right for me. Sharp teeth clamped around my ankle and pulled me under, and I just barely got a good breath. I kicked and pounded, hoping to break free. But this was no small gator. I estimated it to be probably 10 feet, and it wasn't planning on letting go. But I had to fight back.

I heard another splash nearby, and I feared it was another gator. Then my attacker let go of my ankle, and I kicked to the surface desperately. All I could see was violent splashing nearby. My ankle was bleeding profusely, but I tried to make my way to the bank. Then someone grabbed me and pulled me through the water, high enough so that I could get air.

I was dragged onto the shore, sputtering and coughing. A strong hand helped me sit up.

"Are you okay?" said Fang's voice. I jumped and tried to crawl away from Fang II. He grabbed me though, and made me sit still.

"Max! It's me!" he said. He didn't wait for a response. "Let me see that ankle." He fingered it gently, and I cried out.

"It's broken. I'll see if I can fix it." He put a bit of pressure onto my ankle and, miraculously, the pain healed. I moved my ankle around. Even the teeth marks that had broken my skin had disappeared. I looked up.

"Is it really you, Fang?" I whispered. He nodded, holding me by the shoulders. He leaned down and kissed me, and I kissed him back. This was definitely Fang. He was talking, and healing. I was just relieved to have him back, even if he was covered in mud.


	24. Eenie Meenie Miney Max

You guys are in for a surprise...muahahahaha!

Disclaimer: Zippadeedoodah I don't own Max...

Chapter 24: Eenie Meenie Miney Max

_Fang II's POV_

Great. Max had found me out. Max II would kill me. Max Original was headed toward nowhere in a swamp. She sure could be difficult. I'd just have to do a better job of fooling her. Maybe the talking clued her in. No, it was definitely the kiss. How could I be so stupid?

I followed her footprints, which were easy to spot in deep mud. I stepped carefully, making sure that I didn't step in any swamp traps. I pushed my way through a few more yards of bushes when I saw her.

Greeeaaaat. The thrashing in the water told me exactly what had happened. Max was being eaten by a gator. It was a pretty big gator too. Bah. I could take it. But first I had to channel my inner Fang. I spread out my wings and flew over to the other side of the pond. It would have been completely invisible from the water, but it was only about eight feet from where Max was struggling with the gator.

I dove into the murky water and peeled the gator's jaws off of Max's ankle. Easy. I broke the gator's jaw and leg, and then threw it out to the center of the pond. I noticed Max nearby, struggling to get to shore. Blood was floating up from her ankle. I swam over and picked her up, and then dragged her to shore. I had to fix the ankle, otherwise it might have to amputated and then she would be no good.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. Talking was uncomfortable for me, but the situation called for it. It was the only way I could get Max to trust me. But Max didn't fall for it at first, she tried to crawl away, but I grabbed her and made her sit. If she had to get away, I at least had to heal her ankle first.

"Max, it's me!" I said. She glanced up. "I didn't wait for her to say anything. I couldn't. She was losing blood too quickly. "Let me see that ankle." She yelped, and I knew that it was broken.

"It's broken," I told her. "I'll see if I can fix it." It was a good thing that Ari had reported back to the school about Fang's new ability. The whitecoats had been able to make some quick readjustments. I put a bit of pressure on Max's ankle, and soon the ankle was healed.

"Is it really you, Fang?" Max asked. I nodded and held her by the shoulders. Oh great. She wasn't going to believe me until I proved myself. I leaned down and kissed her, and she kissed back.

Yuck.

* * *

_Max's POV_

We broke apart, and joy filled my chest. "Fang, we have to watch out, you evil twin is around here somewhere." He nodded.

"I know; I saw him just before I rescued you."

I sighed and stood. There wasn't even any more pain. This new power of his could come in handy. We began to walk through the swamp, because the trees over head were too dense to take off in.

After a while, we heard a crack behind us. I turned and suddenly my day was ruined. Well, worse ruined than when I had been kidnapped by Fang II and attacked by an alligator. So, worse x3. The Flock II appeared behind us. Everyone except Fang II. He must still be looking for me. They all were as muddy and damp and Fang and I were. Max II's mud splotches were almost identical to mine. How did they do that?

"So, figured you play with my mind a little and replace Fang, did you?" I asked.

"Oh, we haven't even begun to play with your mind, Maximum," Angel II said. My heart ached thinking that this little clone could possibly be that of my Angel.

"Don't even try." It wasn't me who spoke this time, but Max II. "You must wait." Oh great. They were going all out on me _later_. Then I jumped at her. She really ticked me off.

I threw punches and kicks at her. Fang joined me, but he didn't seem out for blood. In fact, he seemed to be going gentle on them. I didn't blame him, I had the first time I'd attacked the clones as well.

I went all out on her. But the brawl suddenly stopped when I heard another crack behind us. Who else could possibly be wandering this swamp? I turned and looked. It was Fang II!

He charged at the original Fang and smashed him into the mud. I ran up and punched Fang II upside the head.

"Ah! Max!" he exclaimed. "What the heck do you think you're doing?"

I gasped. This was supposed to be Fang II...but then I heard shouts behind me.

"Max!"

"Stop it Max!"

"Back off!"

"Why are you hitting Fang?"

I turned one more time. To my left was the Flock II. To my right, there was another, slightly less muddy, flock. Oh, my head hurt. Who was who? Then I saw the Angel to my right clutching Celeste, her toy bear. It was the one ting that Angel II didn't have!

"Guys!" I exclaimed. I ran over to them. At the same time that Max II did. And then she did the weirdest thing and spoke at the exact time as me.

"How did you get here? Are you okay?" we said at the same time.

"Angel, which one is she?" Gazzy asked. "I can't tell."

Angle's eyes watered. "I can't tell! They're thinking the exact same thing!"

Behind us, Fang walked up and said, "Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Max." With each word he pointed a finger at one of us. He walked up to Max II and kissed her.

"Aah!" she screeched. "Jerk!" She smacked him. He shook it off.

"This is Max," he declared. Excellent. The best way he thought to tell us apart was to kiss my arch-nemesis. Brilliant. Note the sarcasm. Hah ha.

And before the second flock could have time to react, we took off into the sky, dodging branches until we finally reached blinding sunlight. We were free!

I couldn't resist the urge. I hung upside down under Fang - the real Fang - and kissed him, not caring if the flock saw. He kissed me back, and although our moment was ruined by grossed-out sputterings, we felt good.

_Over the treetops and through the swamp, to my mother's house we go..._

You might want to read that again if it confused you.

* * *

A/N: Aha! I fooled you! lol lol lol!


	25. Pink Soup

Thanks for reviewing! you get to find out a little more about Max in this chapter! It'll be kind of funny:)

Disclaimer: I don't own Max. I don't own a red converitble either. I wish I did, but I don't, end of story.

Chapter 25: Pink Soup

"Do you know where Lila's house is?" I asked Nudge later. I refused to call Lila Mom in front of the flock.

I had expected her just to say yes, but that shows just how dumb I was at the moment. She started going on and on about how they'd gotten there and all the different things they'd seen. My ears actually started hurting after a while.

"Hey, Nudge, why don't you go out ahead and start looking through the trees for her house," Gazzy suggested. He was evidently tired of the Nudge Channel as well. He pretended to pull out a remote as Nudge flew ahead and copied Iggy's favorite joke.

"Max, you'll really like your Mom. She's really nice!" said Angel, flying up next to me. I bit my lip. It was great to have a mom and all, but when you found out that she'd been working alongside your worst enemies for years, it kid of dampened the relationship.

"I'm sure I will, Angel," I said, brushing the tips of my wings against hers.

"Don't feel bad Max. She didn't want to do it." Perfect. Mind reading abilities. They were really starting to get on my nerves.

I swerved higher and next to Fang. "Why me?" I asked, slightly exasperated.

"Hey, it's not your fault your parents are lunatic scientists," he said, shrugging.

"I kind of preferred the parents in the dream who were perfectly normal," I stated.

"Says you," said Fang, his face hardening.

I bit my lip. "Fang, I'm sorry. I forgot." His mom had to be some sort of slob who was never home.

"Whatever. I'm over it."

Now, I don't have mind reading abilities, but I could tell he was lying. I decided to try to change the subject.

"Man! That was confusing back there!" I said.

"Yeah."

"Sorry for punching you."

"I could tell you were confused. I would be."

"But seriously, you had to kiss her?"

"C'mon Max. I knew I had to do something fast. Can you blame me?"

"No. I did kiss your clone anyway."

"You what?!"

"Fang! You said it yourself, I was confused. then I was attacked by an alligator and he saved me. Well, I didn't kiss him; he kissed me, probably because he thought it was the only way to convince me. I guess it worked." Whoa. Major brain-pain.

"There it is! We heard Nudge announce from ahead. We banked in the sky and circled in to a landing. We landed in front of a pretty log cabin with smoke coming out of the chimney. Something swelled in my heart. Home? Nah. Couldn't be.

Angel and Nudge ran up to the house and knocked on the door. "Lila! Lila, we're here!" called Nudge. The door opened, and Lila stepped out. She wasn't wearing a white coat, which I was thankful for. She was garbed in overalls and a plaid shirt. Very farmer-y.

"Hello!" she waved. Iggy, Gazzy, Fang and I were a little farther back, and we started walking to the door. Once we were inside, Lila started fussing into getting us all settled.

"Now, I only have three bedrooms. One has two beds, because it's the guest room, so Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy can share that one. Another room is mine, but I can sleep on the couch. So Max can have my room. I have a cot that I can pull out for whoever wants to use it."

"Thanks, Lila, but I'll take the cot, and I'll sleep down here. Fang and Iggy can each have their own room," I said. I wasn't about to get comfortable in this place.

"Oh okay, whatever you want Max."

"I'd be happy to take he cot," Fang offered. I glared at him and he backed off. It was nice for a change.

"So, make yourselves at home. I'm right here if there's anything you need from me."

Every one but Fang and I ran up the stairs and onto the balcony that housed all the bedrooms and one of the two bathrooms.

"Okay, there is something I need from you Lila," I said.

"Okay," she said. She sat down in a cushioned rocking chair, and Fang and I both took seats on the couch.

"I have some questions. It's been bugging me for a while now."

Lila blew some hair out of her face. "I knew this was coming."

"Yeah. Well, we'll start with the personal stuff. Who am I and when was I born?"

"Right. Your real name is Desiree Amelia Batchelder. You were born on January 11th."

I wrinkled my nose and stuck out my tongue. "Desiree Amelia? I prefer Max."

"Yeah, I pretty much figured that. Jeb and I were working for Itex, and when they heard we'd had a daughter, they insisted that you were the perfect one for the experiment. Jeb was gung-ho for it, but I was very reluctant. I didn't think it was right."

"Join the club," I muttered.

"But Jeb insisted, and I was pulled along for the ride. They took Ari, too, when he was born. You were seven, and although I hated the way you were treating you, I didn't want to leave Jeb. But when they turned Ari into an Eraser, I left. I never stopped checking in, so I knew that they had taken you to Colorado. I was happy that you were no longer at the School. Then I learned that they had let you go just as a test, and when you escaped, Jeb begged me to come back. I agreed because he had said that you would die without my help. So I became the Voice. Otherwise I was mostly kept in the dark. And I've already told you the rest."

I nodded. I guess she was innocent after all. I decided not to bring up the fact that she had abandoned me to them. Now wasn't the time. But I had one other question.

"Now, in all the stories they have, there is usually one big bad guy behind everything. Do you know who that is?"

"Yes. But he's not so much a concern anymore. When you were born, Roald ter Borcht was the head honcho of Itex he was the one who authorized genetic experiments on you and on others before you. He was discovered and locked up in the Dangerous/Incurable ward somewhere in the Netherlands. That's all I know."

"Great. We are the way we are because of some guy named after Pink Soup," muttered Fang.

"Well, that's what I need to know for now. We are going to rest up here for a while, and then we're outta here. Got it?" I didn't wait for a reply. I just unfolded the cot next to the couch and lay down, exhausted from everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours.


	26. Back to Business

Okay, this one is a little shorter, but that was because I couldn't quite figure out what to write. I had to have some kind of transitional chapter before he run headfirst into another plot (muhahahahaha). But the next chapter is pretty long and pretty exciting!

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. I don't own a red convertible either, even though I'd like to!

Chapter 26: Back to Business 

Fang and I arrived back at the cabin not long later. We approached carefully, because it wasn't unusual for places to be ambushed on us.

Luckily, it wasn't. Angel came up to me when we got in, and she hugged me. I smiled and hugged her back.

"I wish you wouldn't disappear like that, Max. I wanna stay together for a while, before someone can separate us again." She looked up at me with her big blue eyes. What did she mean? I searched her face, but saw nothing.

"Do you know something, Angel?" I asked her.

"Huh? No. Can we go play outside? Lila said we couldn't until you got back," Angel said.

So the woman had some sense.

"Yeah, we can. Just as long as you stay close." Angel beamed and ran outside, Total at her ankles. I wondered where he'd come from. I hadn't seen him in the room with us before. I'd think about it later. There were a lot of things I needed to think about.

Fang and I followed the rest of the flock out side.

"Hey, will you go fill in Iggy on what Lila told us last night? Just leave out my name," I said to Fang. He nodded, and the corner of his mouth twitched. I had a bad feeling about that twitch.

I sat on a tree stump while Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, and Total played around Lila's marshy yard. Luckily, there was no pond nearby, so there were no alligators.

So, the first thing that we needed to do, after the flock had recuperated, was to find our parents. That was my number one priority from the start. We had just learned not to stay with them. We didn't know what would happen. But I had another reason for wanting to find our parents.

What if Gazzy and Angel's father was really the CEO of Itex D.C.? Would we be able to get answers from him? I bet I could. I could be pretty forceful when I wanted.

My thoughts were distracted as Iggy burst out laughing. I looked over and saw him slapping his knee with amusement. Fang looked over his shoulder and grinned at me. I might have to slug him later.

I turned and watched the younger guys playing around, playing a game where Total would run at them and they had to leap out of the way before he nipped their ankles. My heart ached. Why couldn't they have a normal childhood?

Usually, right about now, the voice would chime in with some obnoxious comment. But, unusually, right now the Voice was inside baking cookies. I almost smiled at the thought.

"Owww!" Angle wailed. She tripped over a tree root, and it looked liek she'd scabbed her knee. I stood up, but fang got there first. Oh yeah.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked Angel. Angel's eyes were tearing a little, but she nodded yes.

"Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?" he asked. Angel smiled. He used to do that all the time at home. She lifted up her knee, and Fang bent over and kissed it. It healed over instantly.

Angel looked up at him, shocked. "Fang! What'd you do? Fang, you got a new power! Guys, Fang got his power!"

The others crowded around and started chattering. Well, the chattering part was mostly Nudge, but Fang smiled and stood up. He told them what had happened. The story provided plenty of gasps and oohs and ahhs. I smiled. I'd let have a little more fun before getting them back on track. They deserved it.


	27. Happy Birthday, Max!

The time is near...updates may be farther between starting in a few chapters. This is because I haven't written past chapter 31 yet. Dun dun dun DUN!!! Don't worry, it'll still be here. Besides, I can't leave you hanging after putting such a HEE-UGE cliffhanger at the end of this chapter...

Disclaimer: Blah, blah blah...

Chapter 27: Happy Birthday, Max!

I woke up the next morning a little more prepared for what I'd be seeing. I didn't freak out when I saw the cabin wall or couch. I actually grinned a little when I saw the sunlight streaming through the window nearby.

I stood up and threw off the blanket that'd been covering me. I stretched out my arms and wings, and then shook them a little. I looked around and noticed that, unlike yesterday, I was the first one up. This relieved me, because things were finally starting to get back to normal.

I jumped when I heard a door creak open upstairs. I glanced up and saw Fang shutting it quietly behind him. I silently saluted him. He grinned, and ran down the stairs as quietly as if he'd been a ghost.

"Any signs of anyone else waking up?" I asked him. I seated myself on the couch, and he sat next to me.

"I heard Nudge talking in her sleep upstairs, and I think Angel was groaning about her stealing the covers, but that's it. I think they'll be out for a while yet." He draped his arm over my shoulders. I grinned and leaned into him to make ourselves more comfortable. He kissed my forehead. I had a flashback of the time he'd done the same back in Anne's farmhouse.

That seemed so long ago. "What month is it again?" I asked. It was so hard to keep track nowadays.

"January," he said quietly.

"Oh, right," I said. I laughed a bit, and Fang laughed too.

Another door creaked open upstairs, and we both looked up to see who it was. It was Angel, creeping out of her room as quietly as she could. It didn't work, because she was closely followed by Gazzy and Nudge. Iggy seemed to sense that everyone else was up, so we soon saw him coming out of his room.

Now the only one left asleep was Lila. Perfect.

"Hey guys," I said as they all climbed down the stairs. Fang stood up and Angel came over to hug me.

"Who's for breakfast?" Iggy asked, working his way over to the kitchen.

"ME!" Nudge said a little too loudly.

"Nudge, I just woke up!" Gazzy groaned.

"Sorry!" Nudge said, biting her lip. I laughed.

"Well let's get some grub, and then we can talk about the next step," I said.

That never actually happened, on account of what Lila said when she came downstairs, drawn by the scent of scrambled eggs.

"Happy Birthday, Max."

Both my jaw and stomach dropped to the floor at this statement. What? Birthday? But my "birthday" was in May...oh, right. She was talking about "Desiree Amelia's" birthday.

I am NOT Desiree Amelia, no matter what that woman says.

"Uh, okaaay," I said.

"You're officially 15," Lila said, smiling.

"Yay, Max!" exclaimed Angel, running over to hug me yet again.

I looked over at Fang and gave him a look that said, "What next?" He shrugged.

"I have something for you," Lila continued.

Hang on! Slow down, rewind, and freeze! I'd never EVER gotten a present in my ENTIRE life. All four--uh, fifteen years of it.

"Here," Lila said. "I hope you like it." She handed me a small box.

I took it uncertainly, and then unwrapped the little cutesy ribbon she'd tied around it. I flipped open the lid to the box and just kind of stared at its contents. It was a small heart-shaped silver locket. I carefully drew it out of the box.

It was actually kind of pretty. I looked more closely at it, and it read "MAX" in engraved letters. So obviously she hadn't had it made when I was born.

Then everything came rushing at me at once. It became too much, and I threw to locket and its box at the kitchen counter. I ran out of the room and out the front door, taking a leaping take off into the air.

I flew, but I didn't have the energy for hyper speed. I didn't even have the energy to think.

* * *

BACK AT THE CABIN

Lila stared disbelievingly at the locket on the counter. She'd though for sure that her daughter would like it. Angel seemed ready to burst into tears, and Iggy was looking around curiously, not really sure what had just happened.

Lila looked up at Fang. From what she'd gathered, Fang knew her best.

Fang nodded, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"I'll go talk to her," he said. He grabbed the locket off the counter and ran out of the room.

"Max! Max!" I heard a voice calling after me. I couldn't tell who it was, but at the last minute, I knew exactly who it was.

"Fang, not right now, please," I said, my voice breaking.

"Yes, right now," he said, catching up and grabbing my wrist. He spun me around so we were facing each other in the air.

I calmed down enough to say, "She's trying to reel me in. I didn't ask for any of this! I can't just accept all of this so fast!"

"You don't have to explain yourself," Fang said. "I get it. You're being pushed, and you don't like it. You never did. So if you had just taken this here locket without a fuss, I would've asked you where the old Max had gone." He pulled the locket out of the pocket of his jacket.

I giggled a little. No, _giggled_ sounds too girly. More like, I gave a hoarse laugh. He smiled and dangled the locket in front of my face.

"May I?" he asked. I coughed and nodded. He gently pushed back some of my hair, his thumb grazing near my ear. I almost shuddered at that touch. I shivered as the cold silver chain of the locket fell against the nape of my neck. Fang smiled at me, our faces incredibly close. His hands finished fastening my locket. One came to rest on my shoulder, and the other stroked my cheek.

I bathed in this wonderful feeling. I felt his lips on mine, his hand running fingers through my hair.

Of course, it couldn't last.

BANG!

I screamed as I felt a bullet fly over our heads. We separated and got ready to fight.

"Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt this lovely moment," Ari said, giving a fake frown. A pistol smoked in his hand. Ok, brother or not, this was the last straw. Or, well, the second last straw.

But I wouldn't even be able to touch, Ari, though, because I was grabbed from behind by five Erasers. One clamped a furry paw around my mouth just before I let out another scream.

Fang flew at us, but he was held up by another five Erasers. He fought them, as I looked on in horror. The Eraser with his paw around my mouth moved a finger up so it blocked my nasal passage. I couldn't breathe.

Fang was holding strong, but he wasn't prepared for the Eraser that was coming up behind him. I tried my best to warn him, but he couldn't hear me, and the Eraser behind him whacked him over the head, hard, knocking him out.

I was starting to see spots in front of my eyes. The last thing I saw before I went out was Fang falling. Possibly to his death.


	28. Off to Nether Netherlands

Oh, ho, Dragonology, I didn't say updates would come later _yet_. I've written up to Chapter 31, and after that it might take a little longer for updates. So you're getting off lucky for a few chapters yet! Thank you so much to you and to everyone else who's reviewed, it means a lot!

Disclaimer: The odds of me owning Maximum Ride are about equal to the odds of me owning the moon.

Chapter 28: Off to Nether-Netherlands!

FANG POV

I woke up, my head throbbing like an atomic bomb had just gone off inside. I don't know if this was what Max had felt like whenever the Voice would give her headaches, but it had to be pretty close.

Max!

The Erasers had taken her, I knew it. I hadn't been able to save her. I felt like such a failure. Maybe I was.

I sat up and took in my surroundings. I was in the swamp. I hadn't had the luck to land in the water. I looked down at my feet.

Oh, that was gross.

My leg was twisted in completely the wrong direction, looking more like a dead fish than a leg. I noticed that my arm had a deep cut.

I moved a bit and felt searing pain shoot up my leg. Just because I could heal didn't mean that I couldn't feel pain. Well, it was now or never. And Max probably didn't have that much time. I grasped my leg firmly with my hands and swung it into a more natural position. I yelled out, it hurt so badly. I clenched my leg and waited.

I felt something happening in my leg, and soon the pain ebbed away. I breathed in and out a few times, and then moved my leg around. That was better. I went on to heal my arm and the slash in my wing.

It was official. Being knocked out of the air was NOT cool.

I stood up and began to run back to the cabin. I had to get the flock. It'd be difficult to find Max without their help.

I got there and was shocked to find the front door kicked in. I ran inside and saw the place in shambles. Max's cot was knocked over and there was a huge tear in the couch. I ran over when I saw Lila laying at the bottom of the stairs, clearly knocked out.

I tried to rouse her, and to my relief, it worked.

"Lila, what happened?" I asked when she gained consciousness.

"We were attacked by Erasers," she said shakily. "I was trying to get everyone out of here, but one of them knocked me down the stairs. I don't know what happened after that."

"Is anyone else here?" I asked desperately.

"I don't know."

"They took _all_ of them?" I asked. This couldn't be possible!

"Fang!" I looked up and saw Nudge and Gazzy standing in the doorway.

"Oh, guys! You're still here! What happened?"

"Erasers attacked us, Fang! Gazzy and I did a U and A, but Iggy couldn't get out in time and Angel was outside with Total. They took them both. Gazzy and I flew far away until we saw their chopper go away. Then we came back and saw you and Lila here! Where's Max?"

"Max was kidnapped too," I said.

"Oh no! Fang, what are we going to do? We don't know were they took them! They could be back at School or Itex, or worse!!!" Nudge cried.

"Nudge, relax! Gazzy, are you alright, man?" I asked.

He nodded like a zombie. Just like he had when Angel had been taken the first time.

"Did you see which direction the chopper flew?"

Nudge opened her mouth, but Gazzy got there first. "North."

"That's not heading to the School or Itex." I turned to Lila. "Do you have any idea where they might have gone?"

She nodded, looking horrified. "There's only one other place they'd take them."

"Where?" I demanded, getting angry.

"To see Dr. ter Borcht. In the Netherlands."

* * *

MAX POV 

I woke up, feeling completely nauseated. I realized that I was in a dog crate, and the battering sound of a helicopter was everywhere.

Where were they taking me?

I looked around and saw five other dog crates near me. Only two had people in them.

Angel looked completely terrified. The last time she'd been in a helicopter, she was being taken back to the School.

"Angel!" I said. She looked up at me. She seemed slightly relieved that I was there, but still frightened.

Iggy was in a crate across from me, crouched in confused silence.

"Iggy! Can you hear me?" I called.

"Max? Yeah, I can hear you. Where are we?"

"We're in a helicopter, but I have no idea where."

"Yeah, I kind of got the helicopter part," he said bitterly. Then he caught himself. "Sorry."

"It's okay," I said. A door toward the front of the helicopter opened, and I saw big black boots walking up the aisle between Iggy, Angel, and me. The boots stopped in front of my cage.

"Well, look! It's my kissy-sis!" Ari said.

"Kissy-sis? Come on, I think you can do better than that," I scoffed.

Ari growled and pointed a pistol through the bars of my crate. I bit my tongue.

"Oh? What's this?" he asked, reaching a rough finger through the bars and fingering my locket. "Was Maximum Ride spoiling herself?" he said in a baby voice.

He was being so immature.

"No," I said. "It was a gift."

"Oh? From who?" he teased.

"Mom."

Ari did a double take. He made to grab my locket to take it, but I slunk back into my crate so he couldn't reach. I didn't really care that it was a gift from Lila. It just felt more like a gift from Fang.

Ari stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Max?" I looked up to see Angel staring at me.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Where's Fang?"

I drew in my breath. He was probably dead. I couldn't bear to think that. "I don't know Angel. I don't know."


	29. Woof! Arf! Bark!

Ok, this chapter could be either very confusing or show how smart the whitecoats are. You decide. I wanted something liek this to happen, but it turned out longer than I expected so it became a whole other chapter altogether. So, I hope you like it, but it's not the best chapter out there.

Disclaimer: heh heh heh heh heh...I DO own Maximum Ride. It's true. I am James Patterson and I live in Florida and have millions of...Seriously, you didn't really believe that, did you???

Chapter 29: Woof! Arf! Bark!

An hour later, I was rattled about as the helicopter made a landing. Where were we? Someone came into the room, but I don't think it was an Eraser. A smooth, human hand fiddled around the outside of my crate as if attaching something. What was it? My thoughts were interrupted as a rough arm (definitely Eraser) seized my crate and threw it to someone outside the helicopter.

I was nearly blinded by the sunlight. I blinked several times and then tried to get a glimpse of my surroundings. We were in a grassy field somewhere, but I didn't know where. A second later I was bathed in darkness again as I was thrown into the back of a truck.

I don't know how long it was before I was removed from the truck again. My crate was placed on one of those rolling things you use to carry big boxes at a store. My ears filled with sound. But it wasn't scientists marveling at how incredible I was. It was...normal. Like the sounds I'd heard in New York City.

I looked out of the bars of my cage and saw something that blew my mind. I was in an airport. Not a secret lab airport, but a normal, everyday airport. What were they thinking? I had to try to get someone to hear me!

"HELLO? Can anyone hear me? Hello, I'm talking to you! Me, the girl in the dog crate! Please, someone help me!"

Under normal circumstances, I'd have never done such a thing, but I was desperate. These guys had already proved that they weren't afraid to kill us (my heart ached), so I needed to get away immediately. Plus, they'd get found out in the process. I was pretty sure I'd be able to escape before the Erasers could catch up. I kept shouting.

Was everyone in this place deaf?!

"Hey, mister, shut up your dog!" called someone nearby.

"Right away, sorry sir," said a sweet male voice above me. Then, my cage was rattled with a swift kick. Dog? What the...

I checked my hands. Nope. Still five digits. Still smooth skin.

"Awww...what a cute doggy, Mommy!" cried a little redheaded girl passing my crate. "What kind is it?"

"Why I think it's a Pomeranian, Alysin," said the little girl's mom. "Make sure you ask before you pet it."

Pomeranian? I heard Alysin ask the Eraser if she could pet me (Yuck!), but the Eraser promptly said no, saying I wasn't very well trained.

Suddenly, something clicked. The whitecoat, attaching something to my cage! It must have been some sort of illusion device. There go my hopes of getting out of here. I looked around at Angel's dog crate. Instead of Angel, I saw a cute little collie puppy. Iggy looked like a yellow lab puppy. Alright, so these guys were a little smarter than I gave them credit for.

Well, turned out we were in an airport for a reason. I spent several long hours in the carriage hold of an airplane. Who knows what for? Who knew where we were going? Maybe they were gonna drop us off on some deserted island that had no food. Maybe I'm going senile. Yay me.

88888

I was shaken awake as my cage rattled violently later that day. I'd obviously fallen asleep, but I hadn't eaten any drugged food lately, so I wasn't trapped in a dream.

"Get out!" said a harsh female voice out side my cage. The door swung open and I tumbled out, getting ready to run. But as I stood up stiffly, I was halted in my tracks. There were two female Erasers guarding the door, and three more guarding the window. I looked around, but I couldn't see Angel or Iggy anywhere! I almost panicked, but when nothing attacked me, I felt my body relax a little.

"Get cleaned up," commanded the Eraser who'd opened my crate. "We're going to go see somebody." She shoved me into the bathroom with a set of fresh clothing. I guessed they wanted me to shower.

Maybe I should drown myself. That'd end everything.

No! Am I crazy? Besides, I'm too curious now. To whom (stinking grammar class) were we going to pay a visit? Would I get answers? I decided I would pacify them for a while, until I figured out what was going on.

Ten minutes later, I was dressed, and I walked out of the bathroom with a little more poise. OK. Poise, bad word usage. What I meant was that I was a bit more prepared and didn't look like a lost penguin when I came out.

"Are you ready?" asked the Eraser, not waiting for an answer before grabbing me harshly by the arm and leading me out of the room.

The first thing I noticed when we got into a normal looking car outside was that it was much colder here. Maybe we were in Canada. Gah! I felt so stupid and clueless.

The ride was half an hour, and I was led out of the car by an Eraser who held a pistol to my back, behind my jacket. I looked around and saw that Angel and Iggy were here, too! They were both wearing new clothes and Angel was wearing a strange headband with flashing lights. Maybe it was to control her mind powers; with them, these guys wouldn't be able to hold onto us long.

We were led into the building ahead of us, a huge modern-looking Institute. The Eraser leading me whispered harshly in my ear as we walked.

"When asked, you will say, 'I really want to see my uncle, Dr. ter Borcht. Please. I haven't seen him in so long.' No questions."

Dr. ter Borcht! We're in the Netherlands!

The lady at the front desk asked us a question in what I guessed was the native language. The Eraser holding Angel asked for English. The receptionist complied, asking what our business was.

My Eraser jabbed me with the gun. I repeated what he'd told me to say. The receptionist looked surprised. "Dr. ter Borcht?" she asked in heavily accented English. "I'm sorry but he is not..." her words slowed and stopped as Iggy's Eraser slipped two hundred dollars over the counter.

"I think he is," the Eraser said. "Will you take us to him?"

The woman nodded. It was as if Angel had used her powers on the receptionist! Too bad I kenw that wasn't the case. People will even let children see mad scientists for money these days. How sick.

But before I could think about much else, I was being led down hall after hall, to the Dangerous/Incurable Ward.


	30. The Dangerous Incurable Ward

Ah...who said it was the climax? I still have a lot more up my sleeve, my dear friends! muahahahahaha!

Disclaimer: Spell it out: S A R A H. Not J A M E S.

**Chapter 30: The Dangerous/Incurable Ward**

I was officially quaking in my shoes. We were going to see Roald ter Borcht, the guy who'd come up with the idea for us. Was this like some sort of goodbye visit? Were they taking us to see him before they killed us?

The bribed receptionist led us down one final hall to a door at the very end. A sign on the side said **Roland ter Borcht -- NO VISITORS **. How welcoming. I stopped walking for a split second and was jabbed in the back by the pistol.

We reached the door. I was shaking in my shoes. I looked at Angel, who seemed just as scared as I was, and then at Iggy, who didn't even know I was looking at him. Because of this guy.

"OK, Max, go see your uncle," said the Eraser, taking a hand and gently pushing me toward the door, and giving me a slightly harder jab with the pistol under my jacket. I swallowed hard and walked into the room, followed by Angel and Iggy.

Okay, so not as scary as I had thought. This guy had a huge room (must've had money). The whole back wall was lined with huge windows. There was a bed, a couch, a television, and all those other things that make a permanent home comfy. As if I knew.

"Welcome."

I jumped a bit and turned to see Roald ter Borcht standing nearby. He wasn't as scary as I'd thought either. He looked more liek someone's grandfather than an evil scientist. There was no ugly scar on his face, no mismatched eyes, and no crooked teeth. He was just...an old man. The only scary thing was that he seemed perfectly sane.

"I've been expecting you. I didn't expect we'd meet so soon," said ter Borcht, walking toward us in his asylum uniform.

"Yeah? Well, neither did I. In fact, I would have preferred never," I said, crossing my arms, feeling more comfortable since this guy wasn't walking toward me with a drill.

ter Borcht chuckled. "Now, I know you are the work of one of my experiments; but which one?"

"Why should I tell you?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. Angel shuffled closer and held my arm.

ter Borcht noticed. "And who are these two with you?"

"My family."

"Don't be ridiculous, child, you have no family!" ter Borcht exclaimed, the first sign of harshness showing through.

"Yeah, well, you're wrong about that. We were all trapped in the Hell Hall called the School for a good portion of our lives, so that makes us family," I snapped.

"Show me," said ter Borcht.

"Show you what?" I spat.

"What they did to you!"

"No way. I won't give you the satisfaction. Besides, anyone could see us through those windows," I said, pointing.

"You needn't worry about the windows. They're one way. I can see out, but no one can see in. And I could always call in your travel guides to persuade you." He meant the Erasers. So obviously he already knew about them.

I was clearly cornered. I sighed. "Alright guys."

We unfurled our wings. Something flickered in ter Borcht's eyes. "Ahhh.." he sighed. "How beautiful."

"Yeah, sure!" I said, getting angry. "They're pretty. But look where they've gotten us! Angel is six and has been running for her life since she was two! Iggy is blind, because your stupid scientists tried to enhance his vision! And I..." I choked. "I've lost Fang." Tears stung at my eyes.

Angel stared up at me. "Fang is dead?" she exclaimed. She started to cry. I bent down to her and embraced her, trying to calm her tears. She buried her face in my shoulder, her body heaving. Iggy just stood, deadly still.

ter Borcht just stared at us. Over Angel's shoulder, I thought I saw sympathy in his eyes. Maybe I imagined it.

"But you have a purpose, Max," he said. "To follow your destiny, your need to make sacrifices--"

"I'M FIFTEEN YEARS OLD!" I screamed. "I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO DO THIS!! FIRST, MY FATHER, NOW YOU. I DON'T NEED THIS! I JUST WANT TO DIE!"

Angel stopped crying immediately. "No, Max! You don't want to do that! Please, Max..."

I halted my tirade and hugged her tight. "I'm so sorry Angel. So sorry. I should never have said that. It won't happen, I promise."

I hugged her tightly for a few seconds longer. Then I stood up, a little more composed. "You are evil. You are not the world's savior. If you just leave them, and us, alone, maybe nothing will happen at all. I don't know what will happen to us, but I just wanted you to know that I hate you with every fiber of my being. And you've ruined the lives of so many people. I just wanted to make sure that you had that on your conscious."

I grabbed Angel's and Iggy's hands and walked out of the room. Yeah, it was straight into the hands of the Erasers. But right now, all I wanted was to get away from that horrible man.

Maybe I was blinded by my anger. I don't know what it was, but somehow, as I walked out, I was completely blind to the three Erasers collapsed on the floor, surrounded by a human and three mutants.

And yes, I said three.


	31. Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue

Ok, this one is kind of a filler, but I really wanted to have the Erasers get realyl embarrassed. Plus, it proved ot be a nice opening for another swing!

And on a side note, Max isn't really ter Borcht's niece, that was all a ploy to make it easier to get in to see him. Sorry for the confusion, I should have explained that in the chapter.

So now we have reached Chapter 31. It is official, updates may come farther apart now, because I haven't written any more as of now. But I'm about to go and write Chapter 32, so you might get lucky there! ;-)

Disclaimer: James Patterson lives in Florida, right? Sorry, I don't. I live in the middle of nowhere.

* * *

Chapter 31: Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue!

At that point I pretty much freaked out. The tears that had been threatening to spill overflowed, and I bawled like a little baby. As Angel rushed over to hug Gazzy, I threw myself onto Fang.

"Ugh! Why do you have to do that to me?" I stuttered between sobs.

"Do what?" he asked, stroking my hair.

"Make me think you're dead!" I exclaimed. My breathing came in huffs and puffs.

"Oh yeah. That's the second time that's happened, isn't it?" he said, sounding slightly amused. I smacked the side of his head lightly and managed a laugh. We embraced tighter.

"Ahem. I think we'd better get out of here before we get busted." I turned and saw Lila standing nearby, nudging an Eraser with her foot. "I don't know how much longer these guys will be conked out."

Huh. I think the Flock had been rubbing off on her.

"I agree. Let's a U and A, guys."

Lila coughed. "Sorry, can't. But I got these plane tickets."

How many times in one week will I be in an air transportation vehicle? I mean, this was getting ridiculous! I gave a grin and said, "Okay." Lila, the flock, and I wound our way through the endless hallways and out of the building.

"Over there!" Lila said, pointing. There was a huge green van with a tell-tale hole in the window parked nearby. We all piled in comfortably, for a change, and Lila hit the gas pedal. We were out of there like a lousy baseball team.

So, after the usual wait, and without a little device that made us look like puppy dogs, we were in middleclass heading back to America. I wished we could have flown, but the flock can't handle a flight across the pond like that. I don't think I could have, either.

Lila had been smart and bought us tickets so that we were in twos all in different rows, spread out in the compartment. What can I say? The woman had some dough.

Fang and I had a seat next to each other. I had the window seat and he was in the middle. There was a weird guy with glasses sitting on the other side of Fang. He was fast asleep, so I took the liberty to tell Fang everything that had happened.

"A Pomeranian?" he asked, smirking. I had just told him about the illusion device. I rolled my eyes. "I bet you were cute."

"Nice save," I said, raising my eyebrows in amusement. He grinned. I smiled and went on to tell him about the bribed receptionist and Dr. ter Borcht. His face turned to concern when I reached that part.

"Sounds rough," he said in a low voice, frowning.

"Yeah," I sighed, leaning my head against the headrest of my chair. I shut my eyes for a moment.

"Hey Max?" Fang said. I looked up.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're okay," he said. He took his hand and pulled my head closer to his, planting a soft kiss on my lips. I smiled and began to kiss back. Our hands met and his free hand ran through my hair. I loved it when that happened.

But our kiss was cut short (again) when we heard a cough behind us. The weird guy had woken up. "PDA!" he coughed. I felt blush creep up my face and Fang bent his head. We turned away from each other and looked away. I grimaced, trying hard not to laugh.

A few hours later, we landed, and I could practically feel the difference. We'd made a stop in England to change flights (Nudge talked my ear off with facts about England), but it still didn't feel the same. Now we were home. Or well, as home as home for six mutant freaks and a mad scientist woman can get.

The minute we stepped out of the airport (we didn't have to wait for luggage), I heard the obvious sign that we _were_ home.

"Max! I'm hungry!"

Guess who?

"Alright Nudge. As soon as we find a place, we can eat."

It actually wasn't that long before we found someplace. It was one of those everything-you-need-in-one-place stores that are unlikely to catch much attention.

In fact, the food aisle was right next to the aisle that had the paint cans. This, according to fate, was where our next conflict would take place.

"Hello, kids!" I whipped around to see eight Erasers headed toward us. Three were pounding their fists into the palms of their other hands menacingly.

"Ugh! Will this never end?!" I exclaimed, leaping into action.

"Sadly, I don't think it will any time soon, Max," Fang said, hook-punching an Eraser in the jaw. I hooked and Eraser behind its legs with my own, sending it crashing to the floor. Nudge was holding her own, and Iggy and Gazzy were teamed up.

Our fight led us into the next aisle. The paint can aisle. An Eraser lunged at me and I pinned him up against the shelf a little too hard. The paint cans at the top started wobbling. I noticed.

"GUYS! Hightail it outta here!" I yelled as loud as I could, and we all rushed out of the aisle as quickly as we could.

CRASH!

The shelf holding the paint cans fell clean over, right on top of our opponents. There was yelling and crashing, and even some swearing. We backed up, waiting to see if the Erasers had survived.

They had, but I don't think their dignity did. They knocked their way out from underneath the collapsed shelf looking different from the way they were before. Their fur had been stained from the paint, into the three colors of red white and blue. They didn't have it in them to fight, so they stumbled through the door, swearing they'd get us next time.

"Ha, ha!" Gazzy exclaimed. "Three cheers for the Red, White, and Blue!"

Nudge joined in singing that song with him. Where they had learned it, I had no idea, but they sang it.

We climbed over the shelf and made our way to the door.

But not before I realized something was missing.

Lila.


	32. Oh Where, Oh Where, Has Lila Gone Now?

This is the shortest chapter there's been in a long time. But there is some important information in here (although most are hints) about where the story is going next.

I also wanted to ask you guys if I should start a new story continuing this one because this one is getting so long. What do you think? Let me know in your reviews, okay? Thanks!

Disclaimer: Please guys. Most of you have been reading my disclaimers long enough to know that I am telling the truth, right? lol

Chapter 32: Oh Where, Oh Where Has Lila Gone Now?

LILA POV

"I don't see why you have to do this," I said. I was sitting in the front seat of an intact minivan. An Eraser was sitting next to me, driving. He'd taken me while the kids were fighting his goonies. I hadn't bothered to struggle; I knew I was too weak and my life was too valuable

"Dr. ter Borcht sent us a fax concerning what happened in the Netherlands. He says that you need to be taken care of. You're getting in the way."

"Oh really?" I said, crossing my arms. "And what am I getting in the way of?"

"That is classified information."

"Does it have anything to do with Operation 2012?" I asked. I'd only picked up the term in the lab; no one had shared about it with me, not even Jeb. So I had to bluff. Fortunately, I was good at bluffing.

"Oh? So you know?" The Eraser asked, glancing over at me.

"Of course I know! My husband is Jeb Batchelder!" I said. _Please let this work, please let this work!_ I thought. "It's not my fault I'm getting in the way! I haven't had an update in over a week!"

"After Experiment2012-01 found out about you, things have gone haywire! And then that issue with that Ari kid. Experiment2012-01 was not initially supposed to escape, obviously, but soon after she did we realized that the new Flock was useless. We sent them on that one last mission, which we knew would fail, and then brought them back here for termination. So they are out of the way.

"But you were never supposed to give them refuge! Luckily we were able to handle that. Dr. ter Borcht had insisted on seeing the Flock before he approved Operation 2012. And you showed up again!" The Eraser pounded his horn as he got cut off.

"Like I said, I had no clue what was going on! I'd received no update! Besides, how else could I get the flock to trust me? They will do what they want, and as long as I attempted to guide them in the right direction, I'd hoped I was following the instructions that were being given to anyone but me!" I said. My words hurt even me. Sometimes bluffing is harder than it sounds.

"Well, all has been recovered. As soon as Experiment2012-01 and her flock get out on their own, we will execute the operation.  
Experiment2012-12 has been waiting eagerly," the Eraser said, grinning slightly.

"So! At least we got that cleared up!" I said. "Where are you taking me, anyway?"

The Eraser grinned again, but this time he looked evil. "We can't afford any other errors. We need to keep you away from the experiments."

"What? What do you mean?" I exclaimed.

I didn't get an answer. Instead, the Eraser pulled the car over to the side of the road and clubbed me on the side of the head with his fist. I went out like the lights on a stormy day.

I woke up in a cell. I knew it was a cell because I'd seen ones like it at Itex. That must be where we'd come, since the plane had landed in Tallahassee.

It wasn't like one of those stone dungeons in the movies. It was a plain room with iron walls so blank it could drive someone crazy. There was a door, but it too was iron, secured with iron bolts and probably a password system outside.

_Oh Max, I'm sorry. I so sorry._


	33. Where To Next?

Ok, this one's a filler and it's kind of short, but I promise things will speed up a little in the next chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The odds of me owning Max are 100,000,000,000 (that's one hundred bilion) to 1.

Chapter 33: Where To Next? 

"Max? Where are we going next?" Nudge asked later that day. I'd seen this coming. If you knew Nudge, wouldn't you?

I'd already talked with Fang about the Lila situation. I'd told them that she'd probably been taken by Erasers and that going after her was like complying with our death sentence. I didn't know her well enough anyway to call her family. I didn't even know whether she'd gone willingly or not. Maybe she was working with the Erasers.

At this last proposition, Fang disagreed, saying that she knew too little to be working with them.

I said that maybe she'd been bluffing the whole time. Fang was quiet after that, seemingly unwilling to continue the conversation when I insisted on winning.

"I'm thinking D.C., Nudge," I said. I'd already explained to everyone else that we weren't going after Lila right now. Besides, I told myself, Jeb wouldn't let anything bad to happen to her. He had to at least have a heart somewhere. Maybe.

"Why?" Angel asked. "We've already been there."

As desperately as I wanted to keep Angel away from the nervous system of the nation, we had to go back. "We're gonna try and find your parents again. If the dream was anywhere near accurate, they might be able to give us a clue about what the heck the whitecoats are planning."

"Oh, okay!" Angel said brightly. I sighed. She was such a trooper. She stepped over to Gazzy to speculate about what their parents were liek in real life.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Iggy. He looked kind of seasick. I walked toward him.

"Max," he said gruffly. "Do we have to go back?"

I knew exactly what he was thinking about, and my heart ached a thousand times over. "Ig, I'm sorry. It's for the others. We're not going anywhere near those people again, I swear to you."

"I just...the dream, what if that was what would really have happened? I don't think I can even take it. Memories, you know?" Iggy said, stuffing his hands in his pocket.

"Yeah, I know," I said. "But you can count on me. I'd never let anything like that ever happen to you."

"Yeah. Thanks, Max," he said, smiling a tiny bit. I held his hand to my mouth so he knew that I was smiling, too.

"Well, let's get going," I said, nudging his arm. He smiled and I went back to the others.

"Are you guys ready?" I asked, hopping back among the others. "Nudge, I don't want to hear a word out of you," I said, winking. She shouldn't be hungry, anyway. We'd "borrowed" a lot of food from that last place. I'd left some cash, but I wasn't sure if it was enough to cover everything.

"Yeah, I'm ready," said Gazzy, standing up.

"That's the attitude," I said, suddenly feeling peppy and weird. "U and A, guys!"

I spread out my wings and jumped into the air. All the others followed. We were off again.

You know, after this is all over, I think we're really gonna need a vacation.


	34. Hi, Mom!

Thanks so much for all the reviews, guys! It really means a lot.

And I was pretty close with the Voice, wasn't I? As I told my readers on I've read the third book (and loved it!) but it won't change my story at all. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: Seriously, I'm running out of ideas...

Chapter 34: Hi, Mom! 

"Are you guys ready?" I asked everyone as we stood on the sidewalk of Posh-land. At least, that's what I called it. It was really some city in Maryland (we'd missed the "Welcome To" sign from two hundred feet up). But we recognized the place. In a way, we'd been here before.

Okay, I'll save you all the boring details. Basically, we took off from a woody place near Tallahassee. To avoid Erasers, we only took one break in Marion, NC, near the mountains. We'd spent the night there, and then zoomed the rest of the way to Posh-land.

We'd slept one more night, and now we're here.

"You're absolutely sure you're ready?" I asked Angel. She looked up at me and nodded, Total in her arms. "OK then."

We walked through the gates and up the mini sidewalk that led up to the huge white manor. No, it wasn't the White House. It was worse.

We reached the door and Angel knocked on the huge knocker.

"I'm coming!" said a voice through the door. The black door swung open to reveal a woman of about 35 with blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked like she'd had plastic surgery more than once. Her eyes widened when she saw us. "Who are you? A school group?"

"Well, kind of," I offered. "We went to a School of a different kind."

The woman's eyebrows rose slightly. She looked like she was starting to get suspicious.

"Hi, Mom!" said Angel, stepping out from behind me like we'd planned.

The woman seemed to recognize Angel immediately. But she didn't faint, like I'd almost expected. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a vicious whisper. "You're not safe here!"

I stood up straighter, instantly on alert. I saw Fang do the same. The woman seized Angel's arm and tugged her inside. I'd have jumped on her, but she beckoned for us to come in with her other finger. She led us up the sweeping staircase that we'd seen in the dream, and then led us down a hall and into a room. It looked like a sitting room.

"That's better." The woman closed the door and locked it. I sat on the edge of my seat, spying out different escape routes in my mind. Good, there was a huge window I could easily break through. It looked expensive though. Oh, too bad I didn't care! Muahahaha.

"I've forbidden my husband to come in this room; it's my private place," said Angel's mom. "The walls are soundproof. Even if he were home, he wouldn't hear us."

"So, I guess you pretty much figured out that we know the whole story," I said, crossing my arms.

"Oh, you know far from the whole story," the woman said.

"Alright, then spill," Gazzy said. The woman looked surprised that he'd finally spoken.

"Fine. Angel, Gasman, your names are really Genevieve Marie Mitchells and Richard Thomas Mitchells."

I heard Nudge snort and then whine as Gazzy punched her arm.

"I think weird names are a mad scientist thing," Fang said, glancing at me. I stuck my tongue out at him.

The woman coughed, bringing us back to attention. "My name is Juliann Mitchells. I fell in love with your father when I was young. I was poor, and he was rich. But he neglected to tell me his business until after we were married and I was pregnant with Richard."

"Gasman," he corrected quietly. The woman nodded sadly.

"Right after you were born, he insisted that since I was married to him, I should send you to the School. he said that if I loved him and didn't want to end up back on the streets, and if I loved you, I would do what was asked of me. I had literally no idea what I had gotten into until after he did the same thing with Angel," Juliann said, remembering and calling Angel by her name.

"Hmmm, I guess it took all those brains of your to come up with_ that_ soap opera!" I said, nodding my head with fake approval.

Juliann put her hand to her forehead. "It's been the same way ever since. The only reason I've stuck with it was because it was the only way I could keep an eye on my children."

I could almost see her dilemma. Almost. Somehow it resembled my mom's story.

"Well, we're here because we want answers. And we want answers now. We can force them out of you, don't doubt it." I cracked my knuckles to prove my point.

"I don't doubt it," Juliann said under her breath.

"So! Let's get down to business, shall we?"


	35. Operation 2012

Hi everyone!!! I really really really really REALLY sorry it's been so long, but I was on vacation and had very little internet access. I'd have updated before we lef,t but the interent wasn't working properly. Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter! There's a special surprise for CrimsonScarz at the end of the chapter, too! Muahahahaha!!

Disclaimer: I don't think James Patterson went on vacation this week. Sue me if I'm wrong. ((NOO!!! Just kidding, don't sue me!))

* * *

Chapter 35: Operation 2012

Juliann breathed deeply. Then she sat up straight and checked over her shoulder to see if anyone was at the door. Then she looked back at us.

"It's all about Operation 2012."

My eyebrows shot up. "Wow, when did we walk into a James Bond movie?" I looked around at the flock. "Anyone?"

They all shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders.

"So, what's the real thing, Jules?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Stop tugging our wings. We don't like it." I cracked my knuckles again. When I'd gotten so good at it, I wasn't sure, but it was definitely coming in handy. Juliann cringed, but continued.

"I'm serious. They're calling it Operation 2012. You know about the re-evolution plot they've come it with. Well, this is the big kablooey."

She was starting to remind me of Anne.

"The original plan was that in 2012 they were going to use you and complete the re-evolution. Of course, they didn't count on you escaping from the school last year. They had no backup plan. So they started doing a whole bunch of things, from creating your clones to trying to eliminate you. Eventually, they were able to get a hold of you and put you into dream state. They were convinced that your clones could do the job that you were originally programmed for, and that you could never escape again.

"They underestimated you, like usual. You got away. That was when my husband, the head of Itex D.C., suggested that it would be a good idea to send you to Dr. ter Borcht. He would decide what would happen with you. You escaped, again, but not before ter Borcht made his decision. He decided that the clones were useless and that you could complete the job.

"Obviously, they can't wait six years to complete it, but it was too much hassle to change the name that they'd been using for twenty years. So it's still Operation 2012, but unless you cooperate, and I know that won't happen, the re-evolution process will begin much sooner than planned."

I kind of just sat there for a moment. "Wow. These guys are even more insane than we first thought."

I looked around at my flock. Fang was kind of paler than usual. Gazzy seemed to be fighting an inner battle. I guessed he was deciding whether to yell insanely at his "mom" or not. Angel sat sadly, absentmindedly tickling Total. Iggy had his hands crossed in his lap, and he was biting his lip. Nudge was silent, staring into space.

"So, sooner than usual? What's that supposed to mean? Can we see your calendar? Do you have 'I'm gonna die because I'm not a superhuman,' written anywhere on there?" I was trying to be humorous, but this whole thing scared the begeezers out of me.

"I don't know." Juliann looked down at her polished high heeled shoes.

"Man, you're almost as useless as my mom on the information front!" I exclaimed throwing my hands into the air.

"I know, I'm sorry!" she wailed, seeming quite juvenile. I thought I saw the Gasman roll his eyes.

"You don't have any other information for us?" Fang asked.

"The only other thing I know is that there are more of you. Not clones, but more winged kids. And, I know that you all have code names. Well, they're not really code names, but at the lab, they call you guys Experiment2012-01, 2012-02, 2012-03, 2012-04, 2012-05, and 2012-06."

"Wow, that's sure creative," I said with fake approval, I nodded at the flock goofily and they all laughed. Well, except Fang. Fang doesn't laugh. He just smiles. Which is just as good as laughing.

"Anything else, guys?" I asked. I stood up and rolled my shoulders. I was ready to bounce.

"Yeah, hang on, Max," Gazzy said. I stopped, kind of surprised.

"When are our birthdays? Angel's and mine, I mean."

Juliann smiled sadly. "Angel's is December 19th, and yours is April 9th."

"Hey, that makes me seven!" Angel said. She stood up and came over to me. I smiled and hugged her.

"Happy very late birthday," I said. I heard her giggle into my shoulder.

"I'm ready to go now, Max," Gazzy said. He came over by the rest of us.

"Ok, bud," I said. I turned to go, but Angel said, "Wait!"

I turned and saw her run over to Juliann and hug her. Juliann looked stunned. But in the next moment Angel was next to me again and we were heading out of the capitol building of Posh-land.

I told them that we would stay in the woods nearby for the night. I knew they all needed a little while to recuperate. I knew I did.

But it wouldn't come that easily. I heard a voice behind us that was totally familiar and totally unwelcome.

"Nick!"


	36. The Red Haired Traitor

Here's your surprise, CrimsonScarz! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!! But it's okay, you can hate her as much as you want; you'll want to after you read this!

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, but I do own all the clever names applied to a particular person in this chapter!

Chapter 36: The Red-Haired Traitor 

I froze, and when I realized who it was my jaw went slack and I rolled my eyes before turning around. I noticed Fang looking very pale.

"Nick, wait up!" Lissa called waving after us, her famous hair blowing behind her as she ran up to us. "I can't believe it's you! What happened to you?"

She kind of bull-dozed into Fang, wrapping him in a tight hug. Fang went stiff, as he usually did when anyone hugged him (except me). My little green monster friend growled for a minute, but I calmed him with the image of Fang's stiff frame.

"Hi, Lissa," he said, as soon as Static-Cling Girl had released him. She smiled broadly, and then seemed to notice the rest of us.

"Oh! All of you are here! I can't believe it!"

Well, she pretty much established the "can't believe" factor.

"Yep, we're back," I said, crossing my arms and switching my weight onto my other foot. Now, forgive me for being hypocritical, but I couldn't believe our situation. Here we are, six mutant bird kids who'd just found out about the ultimate plan to destroy human kind (well, 100 percent human kind, we 98 percent folk don't count), and we were being cornered on a suburban sidewalk by a love-obsessed Pyro-head.

What luck.

"Where've you guys been? After what happened at school, you guys just disappeared! And then Ms. Walker moved out, abandoned her house--"

"Wait! What'd you say?" I asked, suddenly alert.

"Ms. Walker moved out without even selling her house. Is she back, too?" Lissa asked, fluttering her eyelashes. It kind of made me want to hurl.

"Um, no, she's not. She was our aunt, we were just staying with her for a little while last year," I said, offering a quick explanation. "But our parents, they were passing through town, and they let us wander around a bit."

"Oh, okay!" Lissa said brightly. I saw Fang shift uncomfortably.

"So, Nick, where're you staying?" Lissa asked, looking back to him.

"Well, um, our parents--" he began, but I could tell he was flopping like a fish out of water, so I interrupted with, "--said that we're staying at Aunt Anne's old place, right Nick?"

He glanced at me gratefully and replied, "Oh yeah, that's right." I sent him a meaningful look that said, _No problem_

_Angel, tell Gazzy to imitate a cell phone going off coming from inside my pocket!_ I thought, glancing over my shoulder at her. She nodded and sent the thought to the Gasman, and he did it immediately. I jumped like a normal person would if they were surprised by their cell phone.

"Oh! That's my alarm, Mom said we should come back when it went off," I said. I gave Lissa a fake apologetic grin.

Fang sent me a look that said, _Smooth!_

I sent him a look that said, _I know._ I resisted the urge to give a triumphant grin.

"Oh, okay," Lissa said, frowning sadly. "Well, I'll probably see you around! Maybe I'll stop by sometime."

_Oh, you'd better not!_ I thought. Boy, I sounded scary in my head. I'd sure take my advice if I were her. If I were her and could read my mind. Oh, forget it!

I touched Iggy's shoulder to show him what direction we were going, and we headed off down the direction we were going. Once we were in the woods, we could take off and fly to Anne's place. It was definitely better than the woods for sleeping, even I knew that.

* * *

I watched the six of them walk off. My dad was right! I'd better call him... 

"Dad?" I asked after dialing the number he'd told me to use for occasions like this.

"Yes, sweetheart?" my dad asked. "Did you find them, is it true they're here?"

"Yeah! I just talked to them!"

"What did you get, pumpkin?" Dad asked.

"They were coming from Mr. Mitchells's house. He wasn't home, but I thought for sure Mrs. Mitchells was."

"Really? I always thought there was something strange about her. I knew it, coming from her background. Now, tell me more, sweetheart."

"Well, I told them how the Director, Ms. Walker, had left the house. Maximum said that that was where they were going. Does that help?"

"Oh yes. Yes. that helps tremendously! You didn't tell them anything, did you?"

"No, don't worry, Daddy. I think Fang still likes me though! He seemed really nervous," I said. I remember last time. I liked him back, but now that I know what he is...

"Really? Well, that may just help us. Tell you what sweetie; I have a little job you can do for me..."


	37. Just Like Old Times

You guys are probably sticking pins in a Snaily doll right now! I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry I haven't been able to update! I've kind of been at a dead end, trying to figure out what I needed to write to get the story moving where I want it to. Plus, I've had camp and endless play rehearsals, so I'm surprised I'm even able to BREATHE right now. But anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Hopefully it was worth the wait.

!ediR mumixaM nwo t'nod I taht tniop eht teg t'nod ylsuoivbo syug uoy ecnis esrever ni ti etirw d'I derugif I :remialcsiD

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We landed near the pond by Anne's house. Actually, Gazzy dive bombed into it, which didn't surprise me.

"GAAAAHHH!!! IT'S COLD!!!" he screamed, running out. He was drenched from head to toe.

"Well, what do you expect, Goofus?" I asked. "It's freakin' January!"

Iggy was laughing his head off, and soon Nudge and Angel joined in. Gazzy stuck his tongue out at all of them. Then, in a creepy imitation of the wicked witch from The Wizard of Oz, he yelled, "I will get you! And your little dog, too!" At that last part he pointed at Total, who growled.

Fang rolled his eyes at me, and I grinned.

"Well, let's head inside. And let Goofus von Goofus here dry off." I jabbed my thumb at Gazzy. All the flock headed inside, and we all hurried to what used to be our rooms. And you want to know the scary part?

Nothing had changed. I swear, nothing.

And why was it scary? Because it was the first thing in my life that hadn't changed. Something that I'd left and was able to come back to. It scared the heck out of me.

Fang seemed to notice. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked. I looked at my hands, which had turned chalky.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just creeped out," I said. He nodded and headed upstairs. I followed him a few minutes later. I walked into my room and plopped down on the bed. I cringed. It was so normal!

The sun was still shining outside, even though it felt like it should be going down by now.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. I jumped up, but I heard Fang's voice. "I got it!" he called.

"Fine, but let me know when you're done!" I said. Hey, who knows who it could be?

I felt hot, so I went into the bathroom to splash some water on my face. Oh heck, my toothbrush was still there! Hey, might as well put it to good use. I also decided to take a shower. A nice, long, shower.

An hour and a half later, when I finished, and Fang still hadn't called up, I started getting worried. Well, not worried. More curious. Fang could take care of himself. Was it some sort of solicitor who wouldn't go away? Well, that's what I told myself. I desperately hoped that it wasn't Erasers or something.

I decided to go down there and check it out, under the guise that I was getting a glass of milk. I headed down stairs and into the kitchen. The front door happened to be near there. The sun had gone down most of the way, and there was only a rim of light along the horizon. I saw it through the window.

And also, I saw exactly what I'd never wanted to see in a million years.

And no, it wasn't Erasers. It was Lissa, clinging to Fang like static. She was kissing him, of course. And, if I was not mistaken...he was kissing her back.

I couldn't stop myself. I marched over to the door and swung it open. Lissa heard and broke apart, unwrapping her arms from around Fang's neck.

Considering the circumstances, I think I did pretty well. I didn't punch her face in and I didn't crack her head open with the metal decorative cowbell on a porch railing. But my lips were tingling with anger and my fingers felt rusted into place.

"Hello...Lissa," I said.

Her eyes widened innocently. "Oh! Hi, Max," she said sweetly. "We were just...catching up."

"Yes, I saw. Right where you left off," I said tightly. She might have noticed my anger, because she backed up a couple of steps.

"Do you mind if Fang comes in now?" I asked, smiling, even though it hurt my jaws a lot to do so.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Lissa said. "But Fang, there's this new movie out and I wondered if you wanted to go see it with me tomorrow?"

"He'll get back to you on that," I said quickly. She nodded, and to my horror, she kissed him one more time before galloping down the driveway and out of sight.

"Max--" Fang started.

"How could you?" I asked stiffly. "How dare you?" I couldn't yell; I was too angry. And he noticed.

"I swear it's not what you think!" he said, holding up his hands. I wasn't buying it.

"Yeah, you really tried to push her away, but she used her mind control powers on you and forced you to kiss her back!" My volume rose as I spoke, and soon I'd reached triple eruption.

"Max!" he yelled. "Just listen to me!" He seemed really angry now, too. His eyes were wide and his jaw was set tight. His hands had curled into fists.

"What is there to listen to? It was all too obvious what happened!" I yelled.

"No it--"

"Why don't you just go with her to that movie tomorrow night? I'm sure your girlfriend won't mind!" I yelled.

"Maybe I will!" Fang shouted back. I couldn't take it anymore. I hurled my fist right into his jaw. He stared at me, stunned.

"Max..."

I strode to the edge of the porch. "I hate you," I said, quiet again. Then I took off, traveling at top speed, into the night sky.


	38. Gotta Get Away From Here

Ok...you guys are REALLY mad at me aren't you??? I swear, I am explaining everything in this chapter. Which is why it's a little shorter than any of them have been in a while. Hope you like!! (P.S. this is all leading up to a MAJOR plot, so I'm doing all this for a good reason).

Disclaimer: Did you guys get my last one? It was in reverse, just a hint! I don't own Max.

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Chapter 38: Gotta Get Away From Here

Fang POV

I punched the doorframe nearby. Why did she have to be so ignorant? And stubborn? And stupid?

Unfortunately, all I got was bleeding knuckles. I concentrated and they healed up right away. But my anger didn't leave. Max had no way of knowing what had happened. That witch had cornered me! Next thing I knew, she was kissing me! I was about to push her off when Max came out.

But _no_! Max couldn't believe me! Only _Max_ could be right. Only _Max_ knew what had happened. I was not kissing Lissa back. Max's eyes were playing tricks on her.

Now I was pretty much stuck going to that stupid movie tomorrow. If I don't Max will think I gave up. And there's no way I was letting that happen.

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Lissa POV

Ah-ha! Daddy will be so proud of me! I skipped down the road in glee. That was too easy! Max is so sensitive, I hardly had to try at all! Plus I got that thingy on the back of Fang's neck.

I am SO good. Or so bad, depending on how you look a it. Too bad I still have to go to that stupid movie tomorrow night. I think Daddy said I had to check to make sure that chip-thing is working. If it's not, then Experiment2012-12 won't be able to move in! At least I got Fang out of the way. And I get a shopping spree as a reward! I love my life.

* * *

Max POV

I don't know how long or how far I flew. I might have even made it to New York, seriously. I know at one point, the thought of the flock (not Fang) hit me and I turned around. I was probably gone for about three hours.

I got home and flew in my own window (the porch would have been, um, annoying). I decided that if Fang was going to betray me like that, I didn't need to talk to him. For now, anyway. I might have no choice later on. The only thing I knew was that we were only staying here one more day. Then we were blowing this popsicle stand and never, ever, coming back.

I plopped down on my bed and before I knew it, I was almost asleep. The only thing that stopped me from going out completely was the bright red color that appeared behind my eyelids every time I shut them.

* * *

Fang tossed and turned in his bed, cringing every time he moved. His hands clawed at the back of his neck, but he couldn't stop the pain.

After a while, it completely stopped. But something had happened, even if Fang wasn't aware of it.


	39. Two Can Play That Game

**Hey everybody!! I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry I haven't updated! I have had THE BUSIEST summer you've EVER heard of! See, I was in the Titanic play in my community and we've had rehearsal almost every night for the past three weeks. And then my entire weekend was chewed up by the actual shows, so now that I have a little time to recover, I'm going to be writing a lot more often. And now that I've got this chapter up, the story will be heading into a whole new swing, and it'll be a whole lot easier to write. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. You get to find out exactly what the love-obsessed pyro head put on Fang's neck. And Becasue I feel so bad about not updating, I'm gonna give you a couple hints about what's coming up in the next few chapters.**

**1) You get to find out who Experiment2012-12 is.**

**2) Lissa might get the chance to redeem herself...MAYBE...duhn, duh duhn duhn! **

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Chapter 39: Two Can Play That Game

I woke the next morning confused. Something felt wrong in my head. It felt empty, like something was missing. Then I remembered what it was: Fang. Everything that had happened last night flooded my brain, causing it to feel not-so-empty anymore. My anger at him returned, and I flopped back down onto my pillow.

I forced myself out of bed and into some clothes, shaking out my wings as I did so. I headed downstairs, where I saw Angel, Iggy, and Nudge eating breakfast. Gazzy was watching TV.

After closer examination, I realized that both Angel and Nudge were eating Corn Flakes, while Iggy had whipped himself up some sunny-side eggs. I recalled how long it'd been since we'd left, and felt a squeamish feeling in my stomach at the thought of how old the corn Flakes must be. And that, apparently, was the topic of this morning's rant.

"And they still taste fine!" I heard Nudge exclaim. "I read online that they put something called '_preversatives_' in cereal so it can taste good longer, look the expiration date isn't until next year!"

"Hey, Ig, where'd you get the eggs?" I asked. I knew for a _fact _eggs didn't last that long.

"I laid 'em," said Iggy sarcastically. He pushed a plate of eggs toward me. I sat and started eating.

"Iggy and Fang went to the store around the corner this morning. But we got the Corn Flakes here," said Angel.

I glared at Iggy, which of course did no good. He shouldn't have left the kids alone. I'd have to take it up with Fang later. Then I remembered I wasn't talking to Fang. Oh well.

Angel opened her mouth as if to say something, but changed her mind and closed it again. I wondered if she'd read my mind.

There was a thump outside and we all jumped up.

"It's okay, it's just Fang!" said Angel, scuttling out onto the porch. I peered out the window to see Fang picking himself up off the grass and rubbing his head. I guess he'd had a rough landing. "Are you okay?" I heard Angel ask.

"Yeah," replied Fang's deep voice. "Didn't sleep well last night."

Glad to hear it.

He, Iggy, and Angel came back inside. I carefully avoided his eyes and continued eating my eggs. But I guessed he was doing the same thing, except for the egg part.

Fang and I didn't talk all day. Angel kept watching us in anticipation. As much I wanted to make her happy, I came first this time. He didn't look like he was about to apologize, so why should I? Besides, _I_ hadn't done anything wrong.

Once the sun started going down, I heard a car pull up along the road at the end of the driveway. Then, my super-sharp hearing picked up a little pitter-pattering of feminine footsteps coming up the gravel drive. I sat on the couch with my back to the kitchen, but I watched Fang's every move through the mirror that hung on the wall above the TV.

"_Hi Nick_," said Lissa in a sickly sweet voice as Fang opened the door. I couldn't see his face, but Fang didn't say anything that betrayed emotion. Lissa was wearing a turquoise and pink strap dress that fell to her knees. Her fiery red hair was bunched up in an updo. Her face bore pounds of makeup. I wanted to hurl.

"You're not going in _that_, are you?" she asked, motioning to Fang's attire. He was wearing pretty much what he wore all the time. Black.

"Uh…yeah," said Fang.

"Oh come on," pouted Lissa. "Go dress up a little bit!"

I heard Fang sigh. "Fine." I watched as he tramped up the stairs.

"I'll wait in the car!" called Lissa. She skipped up the porch and back down the driveway.

* * *

LISSA POV

I made it back to the car and slid in.

"No Nick, Miss Lissa?" asked my chauffeur, Raphael.

"He'll be just a minute, Raphael," I replied sweetly.

As soon as Raphael had slid into the front seat, I dug through my purse until I found the little device that Daddy had given me. It looked like a video game; it had a screen with a graph-type thing, and a blinking red dot, labeled, _Fang_. I pressed a button and the graph became labeled with a map of the house. Fang was in the third guest room closet. Now he was walking out of the room and down the stairs. I watched as he headed to the door, and sure enough, just as the dot reached the door, the real Fang opened the real door. I hurried to bury the tracer in my purse again.

So far, so good.


	40. Without a Warning

Chapter 40: Without a Warning

The minute Fang shut the door Raphael hit the gas pedal, moving the black Sedan down the road into town. Fang felt confined and uncomfortable. He leaned against the window, gazing out through the tinted panes at the passing countryside. He felt Lissa's piercing green eyes staring at him, trying to get his attention.

"So…Nick," she said, shifting in her seat. "We're going to see this movie called _Invasion_. It's like a creepy alien movie. Are you into that stuff?"

"Uh…sure…creepy stuff." Fang replied vaguely.

"You seem really quiet, Nick," Lissa said. "I thought I remembered you being a _little_ more talkative the last time I saw you."

"Uh…yeah, I guess so…sorry."

There was a pause. Lissa kept staring at Fang, trying to decipher him. Her dad had warned her that he was really quiet, but this was out of this world. "Well, we're here, so…"

"OK," said Fang, climbing out of the car quickly.

"We'll meet you later, Raphael," said Lissa hurriedly as she rushed after Fang in her pink stilettos.

"Wait up!" she called, and Fang slowed his pace. She caught up to him and looped her arm through his. He hunched his shoulders. "We'll get popcorn and get a seat."

A few minutes later, Lissa was carrying a bucket of popcorn and they were entering the dark theatre. Fang became tenser than ever before as the doors closed and the house lights went down. He had a creepy feeling on the back of his neck, as if something was going to jump out at him any minute.

Half an hour through the movie, something _did_ jump out at him. He felt moist, ragged breathing on the back of his neck. His fists clenched and with the speed of light, he whipped around and punched the Eraser in the jaw. Lissa, who'd been hugging Fang's other arm, screamed.

Another Eraser seized Fangs by the back of his shirt and swung him around, causing a general panic in the theatre. Many people started running out of the room. Fang threw a punch, which an Eraser grabbed, twisting Fang's arm around his back. Fang yelled out.

Lissa seemed to recover herself. "What are you doing?" she screamed. "Daddy said you weren't going to hurt him!"

"Daddy lied to poor little red-head!" spat the Eraser holding Fang, sweeping Lissa out of the way with his free hand and causing her to fly across several seats. His friend punched Fang is the gut, causing him to sputter. "He must be eliminated!"

"L-Lissa?" Fang gasped. She was involved? He didn't have much time to think about it as he was punched again. He kicked his legs frantically and managed to hit his attacker in the groin.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Lissa yelled, recovering herself. She seized her bucket of popcorn and slammed it onto the Eraser's head. He roared and let go of Fang, who swung around and tackled him, knocking him out on the bench. Then he turned and kicked the second Eraser, who was still rolling on the floor, a few times for good measure.

"Lissa, come on!" Fang called.

"Not so fast, kiddies!" called yet another Eraser, appearing from the doorway. He rushed at Fang and tried to slam him in the jaw. Fang ducked and the Eraser's fist hit the wall.

Lissa ran at him and drove her heel into the Eraser's foot. He screamed, both form the pain in his fist and his foot.

"Catch you later, freak!" Lissa said. "Let's get out of here, Fang!"

Fang seemed shocked, but got over it in time to follow her out. "GET THEM! He heard the Eraser roar. "SHE'S GOT THE DEVICE!"

Lissa ran with remarkable speed in her stilettos, Fang right beside her.

"Lissa!" he gasped. "You called me Fang…you were part of the whole thing!"

By now they were far out of the theatre. "No!" Lissa gasped. "I had no idea!"

"Yeah, right!" Fang said. "How did you know about all of it?"

"All of what?" Lissa said, gasping for breath, her hands on her knees.

"Oh, I don't know! These?" shouted Fang, snapping out his wings. "The Erasers?"

Lissa sighed. "My dad is the Co-head of Itex D.C.; I just kind of got wrapped up in all of it. He said as long as I did what he said, I wouldn't get in trouble! But I had no idea about tonight though, I swear!"

"Okay. Let's say you're telling the truth for now. I have a six- uh, I mean, seven-year old mind reader at home, so we'll find out soon enough. Are you okay?"

"A couple bumps and bruises, but otherwise I'm fine," said Lissa.

"You want those gone?" asked Fang, in a tone that suggested he was only asking to be polite.

"Sure," said Lissa. She held out her hand and Fang touched it lightly. He concentrated, and soon the bruises on her arms and legs were gone. "Very cool," she said.

"Uh-huh. So, what did that Eraser mean by 'the device?'" Fang said, getting back to business.

Lissa looked uncomfortable. "I…I can't tell you."

"What do you mean?" asked Fang. "Don't you know?"

"I-I do, but I would get in serious—"

"Forget about that! I have to know! It could mean a world of difference for me, the Flock, and Ma—," Fang stopped for a moment. "Look, just tell me, okay? No one is here, no one will know!"

"Think again," said Lissa, looking over her shoulder. "Run for it!"

The Erasers from the theatre were running up behind them, the expressions of their faces showing that they were out for blood. Fang took off sprinting. Lissa ditched her stilettos and pounded her feet against the pavement as she rushed after Fang. Just ahead of her, Fang's dark wings caught a current and he lifted off the ground.

"HELLO!" Lissa bellowed, waving her arms up at Fang. The Erasers were catching up fast. Fang fell back and reached down to Lissa. She grasped his arms and he lifted her up with a grunt. But he couldn't get a good grip, and her arms started slipping out of his grasp.

Lissa screamed as her arms slid away and she fell back onto the pavement. Fang winced. The Erasers ran up to her and seized her. She looked out cold to him; she must have hit her head. Secretly he wished she was okay. He wanted to go back and help her, but he couldn't. He had to get back and warn Ma—the Flock.


	41. See Ya, Wouldn't Want to Be Ya!

**Hey folks! Sorry it's been a while. School started up again and my computer time has been regulated. This chapter's kind of a filler, but it will definitely start picking up. Um...how many times have I said that now...? (Gah! Feeling guilty!) Keep the reviews coming, it inspires me to write! **

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Chapter 41: See Ya, Wouldn't Want To Be Ya!

"WHAT?!" I screamed, jumping up of the couch as I listened to Fang describing his encounter to the Flock. I'd been determined to ignore the whole thing, but when Fang started talking about Erasers, I figured my creed of silence toward him would have to hold off for a little while.

Fang seemed to feel the same way. "We were attacked. I fought them, and then, the Eraser started talking to Lissa as if he knew who she was. Apparently her father is Co-Head of Itex, D.C.! Just like Angel's father."

"So she's more than just a…never mind," I said, folding my arms.

"She fought them, Max," said Fang. "Well, I guess you could say that. She threw her popcorn bucket at his head and stamped her heels into his foot."

"Well, you can call her a regular butt-kicker, then, huh?" I said sarcastically.

"Then they said, 'Catch her, she has the device.'"

This caught my attention. "Device?" I asked.

"Yeah. But she wouldn't tell me what it was. She was all like, 'I'll get in big trouble!'"

"Pathetic," I muttered. Fang ignored me.

"Then the Erasers caught up to us and kidnapped her."

"Great! She's out of our hair, now!" I snapped.

"But what about the device? Who knows what it was? There was a lot Lissa wouldn't tell me, stuff that I'm pretty sure was important. We need to get that information!" Fang insisted.

"That's probably what they want us to do!"

"That's the same thing you said about rescuing your mother."

I froze. "It's not the same thing," I muttered. Fang eyed me.

"It's exactly the same thing. Max, you can't neglect everyone else just to keep yourself safe."

That's where I drew the line. "Oh, no you don't! Don't you go – _accusing_ me of being selfish! You think I'm doing all this for me? I'm trying to protect _you_, and the flock! How dare you make it sound like I don't care?"

"That's not what I was trying to say," Fang said, his jaw set in a frustrated line. "I'm trying to say that we are not the only people on the planet – not yet anyway. You can't go letting them hurt all these other people just because you want to keep _us_ safe. We won't hold it against you. Max, Lila is your _mother_."

Hey, when did the subject change?

I didn't like being backed into a corner, especially by Fang. "Listen…I never said I'd _never_ go get them back. When Itex goes down, I swear that we'll get Lila and Lissa back. But right now, we have to get out of here. The Erasers know where we are. When we're out of here, we'll look for clues. We'll figure out what that device was and _whoop Itex's butt!_"

With that, I stormed out of the room. I thought I heard Fang mutter something that sounded like "So stubborn."

I didn't really care right now. I had to go run ideas past the other guys.

I'll save you all the details. But I can tell you that the Flock all agreed that we should skedaddle and find some place farther west. Not too much farther west, we agreed; we were thinking somewhere like Tennessee. The younger members of the flock were sad to be leaving again, but I convinced them that safety was better than this place.

Goodbye, Virginia. So long.

After hours of flying, we landed in a dense, isolated forest. Angel, Total, and Gazzy plopped down into the leaves and were nearly asleep instantly. I gazed at them, so sorry that I had to push them like this, but so glad that we were away from that place.


	42. A Visitor

**Now, I promised thing would start picking up, and I keep my promises (even if it takes a little longer than I thought). in this chapter you get something I promised a few chapters back, too:) Reviews are wonderful, I love 'em:)

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Chapter 42: A Visitor

Night fell, and soon Angel, Total, Nudge, and Gazzy were curled up near the fire, fast asleep. Iggy was beginning to drift off, too. Fang and I sat on opposite sides of the clearing from each other.

I was still furious at him, for numerous reasons. First, he'd been kissing that Lissa girl (I wasn't ready to believe his side of the story yet). Second, he'd gone on a date with her, and third, he'd defended her even after she'd betrayed him. Fourth, he'd accused me of not caring about anything but myself. Okay, true, he'd known that I'd cared about the Flock, too, but he didn't seem to think that was enough.

What was enough anymore?

I moaned and placed my forehead in my hand, trying to sort things out. What was "the device"? How did it relate to Lissa, or the rest of us?

Suddenly, I heard a crack in the woods in front of me. I leapt up, tensed for action. Fang was at my side before I could even look over to warn him. I could barely make out a shadow through the trees.

"Who are you?" I demanded. "What do you want?"

"I come in peace." More rustling.

"What are you, some sort of alien, or something?" I asked, squinting to see.

A chuckle came from the woods. "Not quite, unless you count mutant human avian hybrids aliens."

The rustling was louder, until someone emerged from the shadows.

"What do you mean?" Fang asked.

The person was a boy, about our age. He had what the kids these days called "hockey hair," and it was sandy blonde. He was tall, but about an inch shorter than Fang. And, as soon as he disentangled himself from the brush, he spread out his huge, 16-foot, sandy wings.

"Answer enough?" the boy asked, smirking.

"Not quite," I said, narrowing my eyes. "Who are you? Don't make me ask again."

"They call me Experiment2012-12."

"So, you're part of Batch 2?" I asked, folding my arms.

"I guess you could say that," Experiment2012-12 said, mimicking my posture. "Let me guess. You are Experiment2012-01. And he's Experiment2012-02."

"It's Max," I growled. "And he's Fang. What about you? Don't 'they' call you anything else?"

"No," said Experiment2012-12, becoming thoughtful. "But, if I _could_ choose…I'd say Jason."

"_Jason?_" I scoffed. "Dude, that's way lame."

"But I like it. Besides, _Maximum_ isn't exactly in your average Baby Name Book."

"Touché," I said, raising my eyebrows.

"What about him?" he said, jerking his head in Fang's direction. Fang's face looked murderous.

"Fang," I said. "Now, why are you here?"

"I don't know. Same reason you guys are here, I guess. I escaped, and I came looking for you."

"How did you find us?" I asked, alarmed.

"Easy. Little fillers in newspapers. You know: the stupid UFO sightings that are so far out no one ever bothers to report them. They just use them so the page doesn't look empty. I saw one in a newspaper from Virginia, heading west. So I followed my instincts."

"Got it," I muttered. If these little clippings had anything to do with how Itex was tracking us so easily, I would scream.

"Do I have permission to stay here?" he asked, motioning with an arm to the clearing. I thought for a minute. Besides Fang's obvious hatred of the newcomer, he posed no threat that I could see. I would watch him carefully. At the first sign of possible danger, we'd kick him out. Or destroy him, as Fang so obviously wanted to do.

I didn't even look at Fang before responding; I would reason with him later. "Yes. For tonight. We'll see about the morning." I stepped to the side, allowing him access to the clearing. He smiled.

But as he passed me, I seized his arm and leaned in close.

"Stay away from my flock," I murmured viciously. His eyes narrowed infinitesimally, but he nodded once and moved to the side of the fire opposite to where Iggy and the kids were sleeping. I sat back down to continue watching, but I watched Jason instead. I made the mistake of glancing up once. When I did, Fang's harrowing glare made me shrink back the tiniest bit.


End file.
